The High-Kilted Muse: Peter Buchan and His Secret Songs of Silence

Secret Songs of Silence

Secret Songs of Silence< The TeXT note: The first eleven pages are unnumbered, here indicated by roman letters in square brackets. The last is the first of the song pages, i.e., [1]; the rest are numbered in Arabic at the top (here indicated in the margin). There is no numbering in the Ms of lines or stanzas; they are here inserted. 44 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT [i] To William gordon, esq. Of Fyvie and Marycultre My Worthy and very dear sir, it is said by the late Bishop Burnett, that the greatest satisfaction a man can have on earth, is the making of another happy. if this is the case – you, My good sir, must then have a liberal share for you have not only been the principal means in the hand of a kind Providence of making myself, but my whole family happy. friendship is the cordial of life; and, were it not for that healing balm, who would wish to exist a day in a world so fraught with such numberless and unavoidable evils as surround and cloud the best prospects of man? The pleasure arising from the society of those we love and esteem, is the only incentive for the prolongation of otherwise a miserable existence. since death has deigned to rob me of a kind and good-hearted Patron and Friend, the late justly esteemed and ever to be lamented earl of Buchan – Providence has not left me destitute – i find his place ably filled in the person and character of the worthy and generous ————————esquire. Modesty makes me draw a veil over the name i love – do forgive me – i can say no more, while an honest heart swells with gratitude at the thought of so many unmerited favours already received. The last one i should have acknowledged long ere now; but my silence did not arise from a want of a sense of the obligation i was under, but a want of courage to express it – i trust, then, it will not be looked upon as a token of ingratitude, or, that the object on which the honour was conferred, was indifferent to the merits of the giver, or the value of the gift. By this kind token of generous respect, i was relieved from such a painful situation as makes me still sad when i think of it. – heaven shield me from such trying scenes a second time. For the many acts of kindness with which you have already been pleased to load me, – i have nothing tangible to offer – not that secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 45 [ii] i mean you do good from sinister motives; or that you stand in need of any thing at my hand, or that i can give – god forbid; unless i had it in my power to serve you – Then, with what feelings of a dignified soul would i exult, not alone in the might of my pride, but in my pleasure! you have heard it said, (it is a scottish proverb,) “That giffgaff mak’ guid frien’s”. it is the case in general, but with you, My dear sir, there is an exception – Will you, however, allow me to ask not one bottle, but one favour, more? – it is your acceptance of the following Unpublished Manuscript Volume of the Amatory lyric Poetry of your native land it is highly curious, and i trust it will have the charm and prevail, of amusing you when other things of higher and weightier importance fail. – such volumes, although despised by some for their immoral tendency, by others of as religious sentiments, are garnered up, and preserved by the curious as relics of the times that were, but are now long gone by. My worthy and valued friend sir Walter scott, has some of them, which are stored up with pious care – he values them perhaps more than they ought – but he is the better judge. i am sorry i had not time, (as you were going away,) of getting it bound more worthy of your acceptance; but as it is not the value of the gift, but the good-will of the giver you will think of, i shall spare myself the pain of adding more on this subject. – My wish then is that whether at home or abroad, that you live long and happy, not only in the midst, but in the arms, and in the hearts of a grateful race of friends rising around you, who know your benevolence and worth, as i have so often done. – it is there where you will reap the fruits of your labour, a rich and unfading harvest of happiness – May this be your lot – so prays, with sincerity, one who has often had the honour of being, as at present, My Worthy and very dear sir, your most grateful and ever obliged humble sert. helicon-hill-house The editor of the Ancient Ballads & songs (near) of the north of scotland, &c. &c. Aberdeen, June 23, 1832 46 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT [iii] secret songs of silence; chiefly scottish, Ancient and unpublished, From The recitation of very old people, By sir Oliver Orpheus, Bart. of eldridge hall, &c. ‘To be nice about trifles is trifling and folly, The right end of life is to live and be jolly’. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 47 [iv blank] [v] To My Worthy and ever esteemed Friend and Benefactor, William gordon, esq. of Fyvie and Marycultre, &c. This Unique Manuscript collection of the Ancient Amatory Ballads & songs of caledonia, (Taken down from the recitation of old people, scarce Mss and old printed copies,) is presented, as a grateful and lasting testimony of the highest respect for his affability of manners – his warm-heartedness as a Friend – and his noble-mindedness as a gentleman, by one who has already reaped the fruits of a generous Friendship; and who will ever remain with profound and sincere regard, his very grateful and very obliged Friend and servant, The collector 48 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT [vi blank] [vii] contents Page The soutter’s Feast ................................. 1 [51] Maggy lauder (Original way)..............4 [53] The Tailor’s Mistake...............................8 [56] The soutter o’ new deer.......................9 [57] The Baker o’ the Town o’ Ayr ..............13 [59] The duke’s daughter...........................16 [61] John edward.........................................19 [64] The crab Fish.......................................22 [66] The Wanton Trooper...........................24 [68] dainty davie.........................................26 [70] The Weaver and his shuttle ...............29 [72] The haggis o’ dunbar.......................... 31 [74] The Merry Merchant ...........................32 [75] slow Willie stenson.............................33 [76] The dusty Wife’s daughter.................36 [78] row’d a’ Together.................................39 [80] clout the caudron, (original way)....41 [81] hittum, Tittum.................................... 46 [85] The landry Maiden............................ 49 [87] Kist yestreen.........................................52 [90] Johnny McBey...................................... 53 [91] The lancashire Farmer ....................... 55 [92] The horned Millar...............................57 [94] The cuckold .........................................61 [97] [viii] Johnny cowper................................... 64 [99] Whistle o’er the lave o’t........................67 [102] The Astrologer......................................70 [104] The Bridegroom grat, &c...................73 [106] The Bed-making ..................................76 [108] The Tailor’s courtship.........................77 [109] The Whirley Wha ............................... 80 [111] gibbie Brown ....................................... 81 [112] The lady and poor Pedlar ..................83 [114] The lasses of Kinghorn.......................86 [116] secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 49 The sodgers of edinburgh................. 90 [118] dickie Melvin.......................................93 [120] The lang girdin’ o’t.............................94 [121] The di’el and the Feathery Wife.........97 [123] Wattie and Jeannie............................. 101 [126] hay of ranna’s, lament.....................104 [128] Will ye lend me your loom, lass?.....107 [130] Preston Peggie....................................109 [132] The young dairymaid........................112 [134] The Bonny lad....................................113 [135] The irishman and cobler...................114 [135] The Friar and Maid.............................115 [136] damon and colia ...............................116 [137] gossip John .........................................117 [137] [ix] The dyer of roan................................119 [139] slow Men of london..........................123 [142] The Protestation.................................124 [142] John and susan...................................126 [144] My Apron, dearie.............................. 128 [145] A yorkshire Tale................................. 128 [146] The silent Flute....................................132 [149] cleon and sylvia ................................ 134 [150] The happy Beggar Wenches..............135 [151] The Bashful Maid................................137 [152] Pope Joan’s Kissing dance ................ 138 [153] The cordial......................................... 145 [159] The double entendre........................146 [160] The gallant schemer’s Petition ........147 [160] The Penitent nun...............................148 [161] The london ’Prentice........................149 [162] The sailor’s Frolic............................... 154 [166] The gown of green............................157 [168] The Farmer and lace Merchant....... 159 [169] Fun upon Fun......................................161 [171] The Pretty chambermaid .................164 [173] The Parson’s fat Wedder....................166 [174] The Wanton Virgins Frightened ......168 [176] The Minister’s Maid’s courtship...... 172 [178] The Absent Farmer.............................175 [181] 50 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT The Mill, Mill, O, (original way)......176 [182] [x] The lee rig......................................... 177 [183] The Farto-Turdoniad: A Ballad........ 178 [184] secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 51 [1] Secret sOngs OF silence 1. The Soutter’s feast. [souter, shoemaker] 1. There came a soutter out o’ ein, [Oyne in Aberdeenshire] Tum, tirry, arum; riding on a muckle prin, [large pin] sing—Adli, umpti, arum, Adli, umpti, dirimdi, didle, dadle, darum. 2. There came a soutter out o’ Fife, Tum, tirry, arum; riding on a gully-knife, [large knife] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 3. There came soutters far an’ near, Tum, tirry, arum; Frae Turriff, Fyvie an’ new deer, [towns n.W. of Aberdeen] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. page 2 4. And there came soutters out o’ hell, Tum, tirry, arum; riding on the diel himsell; [devil himself] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 5. The soutters they did had a feast, [haud, ‘hold’] Tum, tirry, arum; And this begins the merry jest, sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 6. And they did eat till they were fou, [full] Tum, tirry, arum; An’ ane o’ them began to spew, sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 7. The soutter spew’d at the first bouck, [vomiting] Tum, tirry, arum; 52 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT The tresser an’ the rack stock, [trestle; last] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 8. sax ellesins intil a ring, [six awls] Tum, tirry, arum; eleven lasts upon a string, [shoemaker’s forms] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 9. rusty whittles, five or sax, [knives] Tum, tirry, arum; A bunch o’ birse, an’ knot o’ wax, [bristles; lump] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. page 3 10. An’ whan he thought that he was clean, Tum, tirry, arum; he spew’d a lang sharping stane, [sharpening] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 11. The soutter gaed the sow a kiss, [gave] Tum, tirry, arum; grumph! said he, it’s for my birse, [grunt!; bristle][‘he’ should sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. be ‘she’] 12. O gin ye cou’d wash my sark, [if; shirt] Tum, tirry, arum; As well as ye can grumph an’ hark, [snort, grunt] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 13. An’ Oh gin ye cou’d bake me [if you could bake oatcakes] bannocks, Tum, tirry, arum; As well as ye can winch an’ wannock [prance] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 14. i declare, my dearest life, Tum, tirry, arum; There’s nane but you shou’d be my wife, sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 53 15. As he gaed in the e’e o’ hell, [went; eye] Tum, tirry, arum; he saw some barked hides to sell, [tanned] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. page 4 16. gin i war hanged in a tether, [noose] Tum, tirry, arum; i will gae down an’ cheap this leather, [go; sell, barter, trade] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. 17. down he gaed wi’ a foul mou’, [went with a foul mouth] Tum, tirry, arum; An’ how he came up i watna fou, [i don’t know how] sing—Adli, umpti, arum &c. Adli, umpti, dirimdi, didle, dadle, darum. 2. Maggy lauder. (Original Way) 1. There liv’d a lass in Anster town, [Anstruther in Fife] her name was Maggy lauder; And she wou’d fain hae play’d the loon,[fool] But aye she fear’d her father. yet she forgot her father’s fear, And on the same did venture; And afterwards as ye shall hear, A lad did aft frequent her. page 5 2. O Maggy lauder on a day, A barber lad did meet her; Wi’ loving looks to her did say, [With] And kindly did salute her. — Will ye lat me get you wi’ bairn, [let; pregnant] And i shall be the father; And ye’se be mither o’ the same, [you shall be mother] My bonny Maggy lauder? 54 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 3. sweet heart, to him, she said, indeed, And then she fell a-weeping i’m wearied wi’ my maidenhead, [tired of] Will ye hae it a-keeping? gin ye’ll be true and trusty too, And wed poor Maggy lauder, i will gie it now unto you; But dinna tell my father. [don’t] 4. For if that he shou’d ken the same, [know] right sair he wad abuse me; [harshly treat me] But i think lang to try the game, [i.e., for a long time] Therefore i’ll nae refuse ye. [not] gin ye’ll be kind and marry me, [if] And be our baby’s father; i will be a sweet wife to thee, in summer and winter weather. page 6 5. My dear, said he, it’s true i am unto my trade a shaver; But there is not a living man can ca’ me a deceiver. [call] And i’ll be true and marry thee, And be your baby’s father; And ye shall be a wife to me, My bonny Maggy lauder. 6. syne even down upon her back, [Then] he laid poor Maggy lauder; Then gae’r a scoup upo’ the doup — [gave her a thump on the buttocks] she durstna tell her father. [dared not] Wi’ words sae sweet and kisses kind, [so] This loving couple parted; And so they set anither time, [another] To meet, quite loving hearted. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 55 7. The barber lad aye road he went, [aye = ae, ‘one’] And Maggy gaed anither, And each o’ them they seem’d content, That they had met each ither. [other] As Maggy sang, the rocks they rang, Fairfa my lovely shaver; [Blessings on] his lovely looks appear to me, he’s nae a wild deceiver. page 7 8. At length the seed that that night was sown, gin twenty weeks was springing; And Maggy’s melancholy grown, And now left aff her singing. And after in her heart cou’d wish, That she had been in ca’der, [calder, a place in Midlothian] For edinbrugh is filled with, The talk o’ Maggy lauder. 9. now when these news had gane abroad, That she with child had proved; The barber lad he’s taen the road, [he left town] And left the lass he loved: unto anither nation gane, [presumably, england] And left poor Maggy lauder; right sad in heart nae kening where [not knowing] To fin’ the real father. [find] 10. sae a’ ye maids that are to wed i pray you be a’ coy; Fling nae awa’ your maidenhead, Tho’ it shou’d you annoy. case in the end ye be beguil’d, As was poor Maggy lauder; First marry, then, an’ syne your child [in time] Will hae the real father! 56 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 8 3. The tailor’s Mistake. 1. There was a brisk young tailor lad was married of late, unto a beautiful creature, whose name it was call’d Kate; And altho’ that he aye thought he would get her maidenhead, Within a month, or thereabout, she was brought to a bed; [i.e., to give birth] To a bed, bed, bed, to a bed, bed, bed, Within a month, or thereabout, she was brought to a bed. 2. The tailor he did rive his head and scratched baith his ears, [tear at; both] And sware by his bobkin, his elvan and his shears, [one-ell measuring rod] That she in every month into labour then shall fall i never, never will be able for to maintain them all, For to maintain them all, all, for to maintain them all. i never, never will be able for to maintain them all. 3. O then said the auld wife, my dear son it’s true, ye hae but ane the first month, the first month i had two, yet kind Providence did aye for their two mouths provide, Therefore, my dear son, i pray you do not chide, i pray you do not chide, chide, i pray you do not chide. Therefore, my dear son, i pray you do not chide. 4. leave off all your sorrows, and scorn for to fret, she must have her number be’t early or late; The faster that she has them, the sooner she’ll have done, so do not make sic rackets, i pray you, my son, [such] i pray you my son, son, i pray you, my son, so do not make sic rackets, i pray you, my son. page 9 5. A dozen then of cradles with haste i must provide, A dozen then of nurses true to sit them all beside; A dozen then of christnings and lyings in too, And twenty dozen of gossipers— a right jovial crew; [friends] secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 57 A right jovial crew, crew, a right jovial crew, And twenty dozen of gossipers— a right jovial crew. 6. if that i do have a child every month in the year, My charge will be great, friends, ye needna fear; [need not] And those that employ me, may very well expect, The taking of my wages, i will not neglect, i will not neglect, neglect, i will not neglect, The taking of my wages, i will not neglect. 4. The Soutter o’ new deer. 1. Of a story, a story, now ye shall quickly hear, – A jolly soutter ance there was [shoemaker; once] in the parish o’ new deer. it is as true a story As true, as true can be, how the jolly soutter did behave Wi’ his brave turnin tree [wooden stirring stick] page 10 2. When he gaed to the market To sell his rotten shoes, They were made o’ rotten leather As anither soutter does. [another] Wi’ a’ his lasts and lingels, [shoemaker’s thread] A merry man was he; We’re welcome for we’re sen’ about [where, sent] Wi’ our brave turnin tree. 3. When he had made his market, An’ saul a’ his sheen, [sold; shoes] An’ he was comin’ hame again, [home] himsell leave-a-lane. [all alone] him his leave-a-lane (There were few to come him wi’) he minded on his noble thoughts, Out ower his turnin tree. [over] 58 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 4. Then he gaed to the tavern, As it was drawin’ late; he call’d upon the landlady, To bring to him some meat. For i am nae sae blate, [bashful, shy] As ye take me to be, it’s a haggis i maun hae the night [must have tonight] lay by my turnin tree. page 11 5. The haggis it was cauld, [cold] An’ bein’ something fat; The ale was three nights auld, [old] An’ by the fire he sat, Till he was as het, [hot] As het as het cou’d be; i’ll to the door an’ take the air, len’ me my turnin tree. [give] 6. Whan he gaed to the door, The evening it was clear, Alas! said he, i fear i’ll spew, My haggis an’ my beer. For indeed i am as sick, As sick as i can be; Wi’ that he lats three bouks, [vomited three times] Out owre his turnin tree. 7. syne forth came the auld sow, [Then] As seen’s she fan’ the smell, [As soon as; found] An’ forth came a’ the gryces [piglets] Mair than i can tell. [More] some biggit in his hair, [built] An’ some intil his cheeks [into] But the auld sow thrust her grunt [snout] in the spever o’ his breeks. [trouser fly] page 12 8. An a’ his private instruments [genitals] she gather’d in her cheeks; secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 59 The liquor made them smell, she thought that they were leeks. she thought that they were leeks, until she fan’ them sower, [found; sour] But as unsavory as they were, she gnew them hauf-an-hour. [gnawed] 9. O waes me, O waes me now, [woe is] For our soutter’s dead, i saw the auld sow eating him upo’ the midden head. [top of the garbage heap] 10. up then comes the soutter’s wife, says – care fells me now, — [makes me sad] i wish i’d gien my best aught, [given; possession] An’ that’s ca’d my cow. [called] i wish i’d gien my best aught, An’ that’s ca’d my cow, That i’d been here mysell, this night, Afore the greedy sow. [Before] page 13 5. The Baker o’ the town o’ ayr. 1. A Baker in the town o’ Ayr, Fal la leary, Went out to hold his weekly fair, [market] Fal la leary, his bread to sell, his flour to buy, Fal la leary, he met the devil by the way, Fal la leary. 2. O baker, baker, what means that? Fal la, &c. What makes your grey horse sae fat? [so] Fal la, &c. says he, i’ll tell you what it means, Fal la, &c. 60 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT yestreen frae him i took the stanes [yesterday; from; stones] Fal la, &c. 3. if this be true ye tell to me, Fal la, &c. ye’ll lay me down, and sae geld me, [so] Fal la, &c. The baker lighted frae his horse, [got down; from] Fal la, &c. it was to geld this wicked corse, [body] Fal la, &c. page 14 4. The knife was sharp, an’ it gaed in, [went] Fal la, &c. And took frae him baith cod an’ stane, [from; both; scrotum; testicle] Fal la, &c. now sin’ that ye have gelded me, [since] Fal la, &c. This day-month ye’se gelded be, [in one month; you shall] Fal la, &c. 5. But that day-month his wife araise [arose] Fal la, &c. An’ she put on the baker’s claes, [clothes] Fal la, &c. An’ she is to the town o’ Ayr, [goes to] Fal la, &c. For to hold her weekly fair, Fal la, &c. 6. her bread to sell, her flour to buy, Fal la, &c. she met the devil by the way, Fal la, &c. O baker, baker, what means that? Fal la, &c. O what makes your black face sae fat? Fal la, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 61 page 15 7. says she, i’ll tell you what it means, Fal la, &c. Frae mysell i took the stanes, [castrated myself] Fal la, &c. gin that be true that ye tell me, [if] Fal la, &c. had up your doup that i may see, [hold up; bottom, buttocks] Fal la, &c. 8. she quickly lighted frae her horse, [got down; from] Fal la, &c. And she held up her naked arse, Fal la, &c. Then nickie said, i hae nae doubt, [‘Old nick’; have; no] Fal la, &c. But ye are gelded out an’ out, Fal la, &c. 9. her horse she mounted wi’ a start, Fal la, &c. An’ fley’d the devil wi’ a fart, [frightened] Fal la, &c. Then he cried out, O fye for fye, Fal la, &c. Another hole broke out, forbye, [besides] Fal la, &c. page 16 6. The duke’s daughter. 1. There was a duke’s daughter, she was a gallant farter steer well the wind, steer well the wind; There was a duke’s daughter, she was a gallant farter, steer well the wind and blow. 62 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 2. she farted till her mammy, [to, towards] A bonny ewe lammy; [lamb] steer well the wind, steer well the wind; she farted till her mammy, A bonny ewe lammy; steer well the wind and blow. 3. head and horns they are tee, [too] Pit and ca’ her tail tee, [Push and drive her tail too] steer well the wind, steer well the wind, she farted till her mammy, A bonny ewe lammy; steer well the wind and blow. 4. she farted till her father, Ane auld ga’d eiver, [an old galled (worthless) workhorse] steer well the wind, steer well the wind, she farted till her father, Ane auld ga’d eiver, steer well the wind and blow. page 17 5. P—— and stanes they are tee, [Prick; testes] Pit and ca’ her tail tee, steer well the wind, steer well the wind, P—— and stanes they are tee, Pit and ca’ her tail tee, steer well the wind and blow. 6. she farted till her sisters three, A bonny ship to sail the sea, steer well the wind, steer well the wind, she farted till her sisters three, A bonny ship to sail the sea, steer well the wind and blow. 7. Mast and sail they are tee, Pit an’ ca’ her tail tee, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 63 steer well the wind, steer well the wind, Mast and sails they are tee, Pit an’ ca’ her tail tee, steer well the wind and blow. 8. she farted ower yon hill, [over] A gude gaen mill, [good-going, well-running] steer well the wind, steer well the wind, she farted ower yon hill, A gude gaen mill, steer well the wind and blow. page 18 9. Wheels and trindles they are tee, [mill gear wheels] Pit an’ ca’ her tail tee, steer well the wind, steer well the wind, Wheels and trindles they are tee, Pit an’ ca’ her tail tee, steer well the wind and blow. 10. she farted ower yon heuch, [cliff] A gude gaen pleuch, [a well working plough] steer well the wind, steer well the wind, she farted ower yon heuch, A gude gaen pleuch, steer well the wind and blow. 11. coulter and sock they are tee, [ploughshare blade; ploughshare] Pit an’ ca’ her tail tee, steer well the wind, steer well the wind, coulter and sock they are tee, Pit an’ ca’ her tail tee, steer well the wind and blow. 64 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 19 7. John edward. 1. John edward something funny was, he thought him on a wyle, [wile, trick] An’ he wou’d to the upper kirk, [would go to] some women to beguile. 2. he was sae neat about the waist, [trim] Wi’ lovely yellow hair, And he is on his journey gane, his bairntime to bear. [childbed] 3. he pat a mutch upon his head, [put; woman’s cap] A cod upon his wyme, [pillow; womb, belly] And lain down at yon dyke side, [earthen or stone wall] like a maid in travailing. [in labour] 4. And aye he cried, i’m ill just now, [continually] it’s louping in my side, [leaping, throbbing] gae tell the dielfu’ daddie o’t, [go; devilish father of it] These pains are ill to bide. [harsh, sore; bear, tolerate] 5. An auld wife that had spied him, [old] unto her neighbour came, says,— The sickest wife that e’er i saw, she lys at yon mill-dam. [lies] page 20 6. As there she lys and mourns still, And cries — i’m ill just now, gae tell the dielfu’ daddie o’t, That my back it winna bow. [cannot bend over, i.e., too pregnant] 7. Then in it came the parson’s wife, The salm beuck in her hand, [psalm book] says,— get me coal and candle light, And shaw me to the room. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 65 8. Then in it came the howdie wife, [midwife] And she spake wi’ a clamour, gae get me coal and candle light, To shaw me to the chamer. [chamber, room][text has ‘my’] chorus The rowing o’ me now, now, now, [rolling, i.e., having sex with me] The rowing o’ me now, gae tell the dielfu’ daddie o’t, My back it winna bow. 9. Awa’ wi’ coal and candle light, To spoil my beauty rare, hae me atween the barn doors [between] That i may take the air. The rowing, &c. 10. ye’ll fesh ben here baith bread and cheese, [fetch in here; both] And brandy o’ the best, For cryin wives hae need o’ that, [have] For they get little rest. The rowing, &c. page 21 11. The parson’s wife she bare him up, [bore, carried] The howdie carried on, Without the least o’ nicetie [formality] They had him to the loan. [common] The rowing, &c. 12. First he loot ae gude fart, [let out one good] And syne he loot a pair, [then] gae gather up your twins, he said, Frae me ye’se get nae mair. [you will; no more] The rowing, &c. 66 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 13. syne some o’ them they lap and danc’d,[leapt] says — Weary fa’ ye now; [May disaster strike you] The wives about the upperkirk [prob. the name of the farm] They biggit in his pow. [lit. built in his head, sc. ‘attacked’] 14. some they ruggit’s yellow hair, [pulled his] And some his nose they wrang, But he gat frae them wi’ a sprent, [got away; spring] And fast awa’ he ran. [away] 15. some they cried O had the rogue, [hold] And some cried, had the loon, [rascal] But he never mist his wanton jump, [missed] Till he was through the town. 16. As he gaed in the gallowgate, [went; an Aberdeen street] he whistled and he leuch,— [laughed] says — had ye merry cummers a’, [hold on; wives, gossiping women] For i’ve got fun eneuch! [enough] page 22 8. The crab fish. 1. There was an auld priest’s wife And she was big wi’ lad, Falaladidum, faladeraldiri, And all that she longed for Was a sea crab sing Fala, &c 2. up raise the auld priest, And he put on his claise, Falala, &c And he’s taen up his pike staff, And to the sea he gaes. Falala, &c secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 67 3. When he came to the sea shore, The tide being gane, Falala, &c There he saw a crab-fish, sitting on a stane. Falala, &c 4. gude morrow to ye fishers, That fishes in the fleed, [flood] Falala, &c hae ye ony crab-fish To dee a woman gueed? [‘do’, Aberdeenshire pron.; good] Falala, &c 5. O we hae got some crab-fish, Ane, twa, or three, Falala, &c At twa pennies, or three pennies, Just as we can agree. Falala, &c page 23 6. Then he’s taen up the crab-fish, By the back bane, Falala, &c And put it in his night-cap, And syne came singing hame. Falala, &c 7. But where he has putten it, ye sanna guess, [shall not] Falala, &c But in into the chamerpot, For the gudewife shou’d piss. [where] Falala, &c 8. Then up raise the auld wife, To do what she had wont, Falala, &c 68 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT But snap! got the crab-fish And took her by the c--- [i.e., cunt] Falala, &c 9. O says, O says, the auld wife, That ever i was born, Falala, &c The diel is in the chamerpot, And me upon his horn. Falala, &c 10. The auld priest he looted him, [arose] it was to gie’t a clout, [give it a blow] Falala, &c But snap! got the crab-fish, And took him by the snout. Falala, &c page 24 11. O alas! and O alake! That e’er i brought you hither, Falala, &c For my nose and your arse, Are baith join’d together. Falala, &c 12. The servant maid lay in her bed, laughing at the sport, Falala, &c says — i think ye hae got crab-fish, now o’ a sad sort, Falala, &c 9. The wanton trooper. 1. There came a trooper to this town, i thank you for your gentleness, he wou’d hae maidens nine or ten, To cure him o’ his wantonness. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 69 2. Then out it speaks the millar’s lass, i thank you for your gentleness, i think, says she i well may pass, To cure you o’ your wantonness. 3. The first and night he wi’ her lay, [ i.e., ‘firsten’] i thank you for your gentleness, he gain’d her love nine times a-day, now gane was some of’s wantonness. page 25 4. The third and night he wi’ her lay, [should be ‘second’] i thank you for your gentleness, he gain’d her love six times a-day, And gane was mair of’s wantonness. 5. The third and night he wi’ her lay, i thank you for your gentleness, he gain’d her love three times a-day, And gane was a’ his wantonness. 6. As he gaed through her fathers ha’, i thank you for your gentleness, The peats and clods they gart him fa’, [made] And gane was a’ his wantonness. 7. O peats and clods lat me alane, i thank you for your gentleness, gin ye had been where i hae been ye’d gotten fley the wantonness. [fley = affright – see note] 8. As he came through her father’s close, i thank you for your gentleness, The peacock pick’d him by the nose, And gane was a’ his wantonness. 9. O peacock, peacock, lat me alane, i thank you for your gentleness, gin ye had been where i hae been, ye’d gotten fley the wantonness. 70 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 26 10. As he came through her father’s fields, i thank you for your gentleness, The windlestraes turn’d up his heels, [thin stalks of grass]. And gane was a’ his wantonness. 11. O windlestraes lat me alane, i thank you for your gentleness, gin ye had been where i hae been ye’d gotten fley the wantonness. 12. The millar’s lassie lay and leuch, [laughed] i thank you for your gentleness, i think mysell now fit eneuch, [enough] To cure you o’ your wantonness. 10. dainty davie. 1. Among the Presbyterian race, some gueedly men’s come to this place, [goodly, respectable] But nane o’ them that kent my case, [knew] nor guess’d my doubts like davie. Well’s me on his curly pow, [well is me] davie laddie, davie laddie, Well’s me on his curly pow, My bonny dainty davie. page 27 2. When first my davie i did see, The very smile blink’d in his e’e, he was a blythsome sight to me, i thought i lov’d my davie. Well’s me, &c. 3. O little did my minnie dread, Of what i stood in greatest need, it was my fancy for to feed, upo’ my dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 71 4. some says he has some muckle pelf, horse and cattle, lands and wealth, But i wou’d rather hae himself, My bonny dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. 5. The last time he and i did meet, it was upo’ the open street, Where kindly he did me saleet, [salute] My bonny dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. 6. As we came thro’ my father’s glen, he gae me kisses nine or ten, And something else, ye sanna ken, [shall not] Because he was my davie. Well’s me, &c. 7. As we came by yon water side, he stopt the stream, and then did ride, But yet for a’ i did him bide, Because he was my davie. Well’s me, &c. page 28 8. As we were walking up the hill, And there o’ me he gat his will, But yet for a’ i lay me still, Because he was my davie. Well’s me, &c. 9. When twenty weeks were come and gane, now my stays wou’d no less on, [lace] it’s now my time to sigh an’ moan, All for my dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. 10. next time we met upo’ the lee, The very saut tear blint my e’e, And mony heavy sigh did gie, 72 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT unto my dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. 11. O davie lad, well may ye min’, sin’ i reliev’d you out o’ pine, [i.e., i took away your longing] And now to me ye will prove kin’, My bonny dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. 12. Then davie pledged his faith and vow, To me he ever wou’d prove true, And i shou’d ne’er hae cause to rue, he was my dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. 13. Then to the kirk we quickly went, And married were wi’ sweet content, And aye sinsyne i’ll ne’er repent, i lov’d my dainty davie. Well’s me, &c. page 29 11. The weaver and his Shuttle. 1. down by yon crystal river side, When Phoebus beams shone yellow, O, i spied a pretty fairmaid, That was baith brisk and mellow, O. 2. i stood a while and ponder’d, To see her sweet behaviour, O; she spoke wi’ words most kindly, said— Ance i lov’d a weaver, O. 3. My heart did ake, i cou’dna speak, To see a maid sae loving, O; secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 73 Then instantly, down by my thigh, i found my shuttle moving, O. 4. My rubber strong, my need to please, Put all things in good order, O: This modest maid she asked me, gin i cou’d work her border, O. 5. On a bank o’ broom i plac’d my loom, Where primroses were springing, O; My rural choice made birds to rise, And set them all a singing, O. page 30 6. i hung my slaes to work at ease, [Buchan slip; should be ‘claes’] And kept a firm treadle, O; i’m sure i drew twelve good long bores, Before i broke a needle, O. 7. My treadle pin i fixed in, Put all things in good order, O; At every shot a double rock, until i wrought her border, O. 8. i pleas’d this jolly fairmaid, Whose joys were wonderous double, O; Though sorry at our parting, she thank’d me for my trouble, O. 9. As she went alang, she sweetly sang, The weaver and his shuttle, O; do far exceed in time of need, The doctor and his bottle, O. 10. so all ye pretty fairmaids, And maids that sit a spinning, O; There is a curious weaver, sae well can work your linen, O. 74 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 11. he works sae nice without a price, The jolly handsome weaver, O; And then for kissing fairmaids, They count it as a favour, O. page 31 12. The haggis o’ dunbar. 1. There was a haggis in dunbar, lowdi, litti, iddel; Mony better, few waur, [worse] Fader, littim, fidell. Fader, linkum, todum, tinkum, down the town o’ random, Towdi, litti, iddel, a, Fader, linkum, fidell. 2. For to mak’ the haggis fou’, lowdi, litti, iddel; They pat in a pund o’ woo’, [wool] Fader, littim, fidell. Fader, &c. 3. And for to make the haggis nice, lowdi, litti, iddel; They pat in a pund o’ lice, Fader, littim, fidell. Fader, &c. 4. And for to make the haggis fat, lowdi, litti, iddel; They pat in a scabbit cat, [mangy] Fader, littim, fidell. Fader, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 75 page 32 13. The Merry Merchant. 1. Protty Well’s gane to the pleuch, [plough] And left the burgess hungry eneuch, [enough] When he came hame he spake as stouth, [theft] And fley’d the merry merchant. [scared] hey the merry, how the merry, hey the merry merchant, Muckle anger on him come, That’s fley’d the merry merchant. 2. The carlie sware, the muckle diel, [old man] For i want some o’ my gude meal, i fear ye’ve held a second yule, And been a merry merchant. hey the merry, &c. 3. The merchant glower’d and danc’d and lap, [scowled; leapt] says— Foul-fa’ them that did it take, [damn] ye’re naething but a nasty pack, ye’re nae guid to the merchant. hey the merry, &c. 4. The merchant now he’s run awa’, Out ower the hills an’ left them a’, his sweetheart’s like her nails to gnaw, crying— O my merry merchant. hey the merry, &c. page 33 5. i wyt i clappit’s bonny head, [i wot, = ‘i can tell you, indeed’] An’ fill’d his pouches well wi’ bread, [pockets] i wyt i gae him ae day’s feed, Because he was a merchant. hey the merry, &c. 76 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 6. But gin that back he winna come, i will tak’ ance mair on wi’ drum, Wi’ him i hae had better fun, Than e’er i’d wi’ the merchant. hey the merry, &c. 14. Slow willie Stenson. 1. There liv’d a lad in lingerumshire slow Willie stenson; There liv’d a lad in lingerumshire slow Willie stenson. There was a lass he did admire, ca’d bonny Peggy Benson. 2. he followed her frae barn to byre, slow, &c. he followed her frae barn to byre, slow, &c. But ne’er cou’d gain his heart’s desire, O’ bonny Peggy Benson. page 34 3. But it fell ance upon a day, slow, &c. But it fell ance upon a day, slow, &c. Willie gaed out to turn the hay, Wi’ bonny Peggy Benson. 4. O Peggy fain i’d lay you down, slow, &c. O Peggy fain i’d lay you down, slow, &c. Were ’t nae for fyling your new gown, My bonny Peggy Benson. 5. My new gown cost you ne’er a groat, slow, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 77 My new gown cost you ne’er a groat, slow, &c. ye’ll lay me down an’ spare me not, said bonny Peggy Benson. 6. My mither span to me a cloak, [spun: wove] slow, &c. My mither span to me a cloak, slow, &c. ye’ll lean you down an’ i’ll gae for’t, My bonny Peggy Benson. page 35 7. Willie’s awa’ for the new cloak, slow, &c. Willie’s awa’ for the new cloak, slow, &c. But by came anither an’ did the jot, [odd job] Wi’ bonny Peggy Benson. 8. i wish my cloak had ne’er been spun, slow, &c. i wish my cloak had ne’er been spun, slow, &c. For i’ve lost mair than e’er i’ve won, My bonny Peggy Benson. 9. i wish my cloak was brunt wi’ fire, slow, &c. i wish my cloak was brunt wi’ fire, slow, &c. For now i’ve lost my heart’s desire, My bonny Peggy Benson. 10. seven lang year i’ve tin’d your ale, slow, &c. seven lang year i’ve tin’d your ale, slow, &c. But ne’er yet gat the tinning scale said bonny Peggy Benson. 78 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 11. seven lang year i’ve made your bed, slow, &c. seven lang year i’ve made your bed, slow, &c. But yet in it i ne’er was laid, said bonny Peggy Benson. page 36 12. had ye been willing, i was bent, slow, &c. had ye been willing, i was bent, slow, &c. i might hae had my heart’s content, My bonny Peggy Benson. 15. The dusty wife’s daughter. 1. A dusty wife’s daughter liv’d at lettermill, she langed for bobbing, [dancing] now she’s gotten her fill. For seven lang years, she was to wait on, And she wou’d get bobbing The blankets among. 2. she was the lassie, That herded the kye, rob law was the laddie That lived near by. her love for to gain he gae her a groat [gave] To buy her some sugar To sweeten her throat. page 37 3. But the sugar grew dane [done] And she prov’d untrue, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 79 she langed for something To sweeten her mou’. [mouth] she gaed to rob law Wi’ the blink in her e’e, And says, — ye’ll fulfil now your promise to me. 4. he gae her five merks, To buy her some woo, [wool] And says— ye’ll gae hame To your mammy i trow. he bade her gae hame Till her mammy an’ spin, And aye be providing some blankets to him. 5. When the plaids they were spun And a’ laid in faul’, [folded away] sweet Jeanie’s love then To rob turned caul’. i pity his case, And i do him bewail, For she gaed to Jock Allan That wagged the flail. page 38 6. These twa being sessioned, [see glossary] And cried in the kirk Then robie came in, And play’d them a jirk. [trick] says he, — For your bride ye needna wait on, she’s promised me bobbing The blankets among. 7. The sum o’ five punds, your bride she will cost; And now ye maun pay it, Before that ye hoast. [cough, i.e., ‘immediately’] 80 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT gin ye hinna the siller, [if you have not the money] ye’ll gie me your bill, And syne ye may marry, Whan ever ye will. 8. As they then gied in [= gaed, went] By Kinaddie’s knap, [hillock, piece of rising ground] Forth came the wifie That brewed the drap. she wish’d him success, And she wish’d him nae ill, here’s a health to the lassie, That stands by the mill. page 39 16. row’d a’ together. 1. When spring did appear in a morning sae clear, A little before bright Phoebus was rising, As i was a walking, And pleasantly talking, The moon shining bright, was fair and enticing, i spied a young man, in haste coming hither, And alas! he has rowed me a’ together. 2. he gripped my hand, And ask’d me to stand, [text has ‘me to me stand’ by mistake] Where low on the ground where pillows were wanting, his wit and discretion, gain’d my admiration, his breath with sweet odour preserv’d me from fainting, The hectical sport kiest me so in a fever, [cast] And sae well as i knew i was row’d a’ together. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 81 3. But when twenty weeks Made me green as leeks, My coats they grew short, and my apron was rising, And as for my bodice, i look’d like a novice, Alas! then thought i that he was so enticing, When my colour grew pale, and my twa sides grew bigger, Then ye may well ken i was row’d a’ together. page 40 4. My parents did scold, My friends on me rail’d, And then wi’ harsh words they put me to trial, They did me accuse, But i did refuse, And so i stood out unto a denial, come tell unto me, as i am your mother, Wha is the man has row’d you a’ together. 5. The ale i have browen, Pray let me be doin’, They that gets the scaith, aft gets the scorn, Though i’ve fallen low, it is not as ye know; And ye’ve taen a notice your child is forlorn, For ye took a man, and i’ve taen another, i took it of you to be row’d a’ together. page 41 17. clout the caudron. (Original way) 1. There was a lady gay, And she loved a gentleman, But could not get him when she would, But took him when he came. she wrote a loving letter, And seal’d it wi’ her hand, For to come up in tinkler’s dress 82 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And mend baith pot and pan, My doing do, my doing do. And i pray you my dear do. 2. But when he look’d the letter upon, sae well’s he could it read, come bring to me my hammer, he says, And pincers with full speed. My hammer and my pina shears And rivets all o’metal, For i maun on to yon town end To clout and mend a kettle. My doing do, &c. 3. he’s taen his bellows on his Back, his budget in his apron, And he is on to yon town end, To clout the lady’s caudron. page 42 The lady look’d ower [her] castle wa’ And even ower the lane, When she beheld the tinkler come tripping down the plain. My doing do, &c. 4. When he came to the castle yett, [gate] To knock he didna spare, Till down it came the porter, says— Wha knocks sae boldly there? i am the bravest tinkler That ever ye did see, gin ye’ve ony pots or pans to mend, gae bring them unto me. My doing do, &c. 5. The porter he’s gaen up the stair, As fast as he could dree, [continue] says—There’s the bauldest tinkler, That ever i did see. Wi’ hammer, and wi’ pina sheers, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 83 And rivets all o’ metal, And he says he’s come to our town, To clout and mend a kettle. [patch. repair] My doing do, &c. 6. Then ben it came the butler, [through] And to the tinkler then, says—My mistress wants your errand here? likewise what is your name? some ways i pass me for a caird [ peddler] And otherways a tinkler, But here the truth i will confess, My name is Johnny sinclair. My doing do, &c. page 43 7. The lady call’d the butler then, And tauld him wi’ a wink, ye’ll gie the saucy fellow some vituals, and some drink. sic vituals as we eat oursells, And sic liquor as we use, i’m sure there’s nae a tinkler gude liquor will refuse. My doing do, &c. 8. When he had eaten meat and drink, his satisfaction sure, Then to the room the tinkler’s gane i wat he hadna fear. he met the lady in the trance [passage, lobby] says— dame, how do you do? i did acquaint your porter My errand was to you. My doing do, &c. 9. she took him to the brewhouse Where the caudron stood, And he gae her a knock or two, 84 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT To see gin she were good. And aye’s the tinkler clinkit The lady she did chide, That he wou’d never ca’ a nail into the other side. My doing do, &c. page 44 10. he pat the hammer in her hand, And bade her aye be ca’in, [driving] Though it be you, they’ll think it me, had aye the hammer gain [i.e., ga’in, ‘going’] she brought him till another room, his workmanship to show, And he’ taen her by the middle sma’ And laid her body low. My doing do, &c. 11. she took the hammer in her hand, Thereat did loudly rap, so that the laird might think below The tinkler was at wark. ye’ve clinkit well, the tinkler said, And whisper’d in her ear, We’ll be as quite now’s we can, [ = quiet] case a’ the house may hear. My doing do, &c. 12. she had him to the chamer, Where her ain father lay, A merk for every nail, she said, This tinkler ye maun pay. he is as brave a tinkler As e’er came to this town, For every nail that he has caed [i.e., ca’ed, driven] is well worth hauf-a-crown. My doing do, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 85 page 45 13. O had your tongue, the laird, he said, [haud, hold] And talk nae mair to me, i winna pay a nail sae dear, To nae ane that i see. your kettle it needs mending At ilka ither brewin’; O diel ding out the boddom o’t, i’d rather buy a new ane. My doing do, &c. 14. Then the gudeman’s gane down the town, A dollar for to change, But lang ere he came back again, her caudron got a range. come quickly back again, she said, And dinna need for sending, There’s nae a month in a’ the year But my kettle it needs mending. My doing do, &c. page 46 18. hittum, tittum. 1. As i walk’d down and farther down, There i spied a wonder, There i met a bonny lass, But she was straiten’d under. sing— hittum, tittum, tadium, My hittum, tittum, tirie, My hittum, tittum, tadium, sing— Fal di dal di dearie. 2. her twa short hose made me rejoice, her sheen they ware sae rare made, [shoes] she look’d sae neat intil her clothes, she cou’dna step a strae bread. [the breadth of a straw] sing, &c. 86 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 3. i walked up, i walked down, i walked close beside her, And aye i said, my well-fair’d maid, O canno ye step nae wider? [i.e., she is taking short steps] sing, &c. 4. gang on your road, young man, she says, leave aff your foolish talking, gang on the road ye do intend, let me walk on my walking. sing, &c. page 47 5. i am a surgeon to my trade, My master says, i’m rare on’t, come tell me where your trouble lies, i’ll rid you clean and fair on’t. sing, &c. 6. My trouble lies between my thighs, And it’s a wonderous bidding, it is a thing, young man, she says, That stops me o’ my striding. sing, &c. 7. he’s taen her by the milk-white hand, And on the leys he laid her. [lea, grassland] For all he did, and all he said, she lay, and sweetly play’d her. sing, &c. 8. he turn’d her ower upon her back, And he applied a plaister, [treatment] Then turn’d her on the other side, sae nicely as he drest her. sing, &c. 9. When that she got up again, she was sae merry hearted, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 87 she jump’d out ower three threaves o’ bear [24 sheaves; barley] And hauf a stook to part it. [shock of corn] sing, &c. 10. Fairfa’ the man that got the son [Bless] Fairfa’ the wife that bear him, he’s eas’d me sae o’ a’ my pain, That i can rin my errant. sing, &c. page 48 11. First whan i came to the town, i cou’dna step a strae bread, But now my thighs are grown sae wide, i jump out ower hale threaves o’t. sing, &c. 12. But i wou’dna that my minny kent, That i was at the tavern; i wou’d get cow the orratie [a scolding] For drinking o’ my apron. sing, &c. 13. i drank my hose, i drank my sheen, i drank my silver garten, i drank my smock below my coat, And syne i drank my apron. sing, &c. page 49 19. The landry Maiden. 1. O listen a while and i will you tell, Of a handsome charming young creature, That went to the castle of gordon to serve, in the office of a landry maiden. 2. As she gaed in by yon shore side, And saw the ships a sailing, 88 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT The sailors all invited her on board, And the captain down to his cabin. 3. she turn’d her right and round about, says— Wae be to your cabin, And wae be to your cabin door keys, For they’ve riven my muslin apron. 4. it’s riven and rented, and sair tormented, And winna gang on in the morning, it’s riven and rented, and sair tormented, And i canno’ face the duchess of gordon. 5. But she tarried a’ the live lang night, And she’s taen her leave in the morning, she bade baith the captain and the sailors adieu, And she’s on to the castle of gordon. 6. she hadna been there six months o’ a year, Till they spied an eke in her apron, [extension, enlargement] Then they did her accuse, and sairly abuse, And nam’d her to the young duke of gordon. page 50 7. had your tongues, had your tongues, my comerades a’, And vex me nae mair wi’ your scorning, i woudna gie a sight o’ my love’s face for ye a’, That invited me down to his cabin. 8. Then word gaed up, and word gaed down, Till it came to the duchess of gordon, Then on an evening late, she call’d bonny Bet, For to see the eke in her apron. 9. says— here is three guineas, to you i will give, if ye’ll lay aside your apron, For it is reported throughout a’ the town, That it is to the young duke o’ gordon. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 89 10. had your tongue, had your tongue, madam, she said, And vex me nae mair wi’ your scolding, For i wou’dna gie a sight o’ my love’s face for ye a’, Though he’ ne’er be the young duke o’ gordon. 11. captain Arbuthnot is my lover’s name, And on the saut seas he is sailing, And he that’s done amiss, will make amends, That invited me down to his cabin. 12. Then she tarried there a livelang night, And then took her leave in the morning, Because in that place she cou’d nae langer stay, nor yet face the duchess of gordon. page 51 13. But as she gaed in by yon shore side, To see the bonny ships sailing, she turned her around, and espied the man, That invited her down to his cabin. 14. he sent out a boat wi’ five o’ his men, To take in bonny Betty gordon, And he gae to them a bottle o’ wine, To drink a health to bonny Betty gordon. 15. now blythe may she, and merry may she sing, That e’er she was down at the cabin, For he married her ere her baby came hame, Because she was a charming young maiden. 16. he’s married her ere her baby came hame, And it was but the least o’ his duty; he’s married bonny Betsy, and made her his ain, Because she was a charming young beauty. 90 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 52 20. kist yestreen. 1. Kist yestreen, kist yestreen, sae merrily as i was kist yestreen, Between duke hamilton and lord hume, sae merrily as i was kist yestreen. Kist yestreen and clapped the day, [hugged today] And a’ the lang nights in his arms i lay, i scarcely wou’d tell unless ye had seen, The way that i was kist yestreen. Kist yestreen, &c. 2. it’s nae great wonder tho’ my heart be sad, To ly night by night wi’ twa lusty young lads, A’ the lang night, and part o’ next day, yet for a’ that to come maiden away. Kist yestreen, &c. 3. concerning the duke, i naething will say, i kent a’ his failings ere he came me nigh, But as for lord hume that i thought was sae gay, Wou’d never hae lat me gae maiden away. Kist yestreen, &c. 4. Was nae his lordship a silly puir fool, For to come to me wi’ a useless tool? But whether ’twas gude, or whether ’twas bad, [ – text ‘whether’t ’twas’, bis] he ought to have offer’d me what he had. Kist yestreen, &c. page 53 5. i lay as close to him as a pig to be claw’d, To see gin the motion wou’d rise in the lad, But i might hae lyin by him till yet, i believe, Before i had gotten an inch o’t to prieve. [prove, try] Kist yestreen, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 91 6. in came Miss Betty dress’d in a silk gown, says— Jeany, my sister, what gars ye look down? [i.e., in shame] O ye wou’d look down gin ye kent it a’, To ly wi’ twa lads an’ come maiden awa’. Kist yestreen, &c. 7. i’m brisk, and i’m bonny, i’m young, and i’m gay, And on several instruments wi’ skill i can play, But what are my jewels, and my gowd sae braw, That pitifu’ case to come maiden awa’. Kist yestreen, &c. 21. Johnny McBey. 1. Mumph, frae a Millan, i’ll bid you adieu, There’s a lad in our town is far better than you, he’s the bravest young fellow i e’er did see, And his name to make mention is John McBey. 2. A tag in his breeches, i’ll tell in my song, That Mumphee o’ Millans was never sae long, The ladies came to him without more delay, To try the lang waddle o’ Johnny McBey. page 54 3. A lady in elgin who hearing the news, she came to brave Johnny, and asked his dues, A guinea, dear madam, no less can i have, For sic merchant wares, ye scarce can receive. 4. But this young lady was struck in amaze, still thinking the wages she cou’dna well raise, i’ll pawn my high dress, and my richest array, For to try the long waddle o’ Johnny McBey. 5. Then Johnny he laid her right down on her back, The first stroke he gave her, she cared not for that, 92 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT But the next that he gave her fulfilled her desire, And set her main organ at once on a fire. 6. O fair me mat-fa thee, my Johnny McBey [well may you be] The diel hae thy marrow, i ever did see, [there’s no-one like you] i have tried sailors, sodgers, and troopers a’ three, But there’s nane o’ them a’ like my John McBey. page 55 22. The lancashire farmer. 1. A lancashire farmer who had a fair wife, The clerk of the parish lov’d her as his life, in pleasures of love they did frolic and play, Till her kind loving husband grew jealous, they say. 2. Then straight to a cunningman away he did go, [conjuror] For to see if he was a cuckold or no, The cunningman said, if my council ye’ll take, Tomorrow some pleasant good sport i will make. 3. There’s an old hollow oak half a mile out of town, To keep yourself warm take your cloak and gown, And in this same oak ye must lodge all the night, And to-morrow i’ll show you a delicate sight. 4. The farmer resolved the project to try, With this conjuror’s humour he then did comply, he told his fair wife he must ride out of town, And with sorrowful sigh then began to look down. 5. his back being turned, for her gallant she sent, [text for he] That they might spend the night in joy and content, Before the next morning there ’rose a sad rout, By the conjuror’s charms that he’d brought about. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 93 6. This conjuring scholar, he had by his skill, For he lay as snug there’s a thief in a mill, But cast such a charm o’er the pisspot at last, Whoever should touch it should stick to it fast. page 56 7. next morning to piss the clerk did arise, But he found the pisspot fast lock’d ’tween his thighs, The farmer’s fair wife raise up in her shift, To help her sweet lover out of his dead lift. 8. his delicate dall in her right hand she took, in the left hand she seized the side of the pot, Then rugged and pull’d till both sides did ake, They both stuck as fast as two boars at a stake. 9. Then in this sad case with her foot she did knock, her daughter she hearing ran up in her smock, O come girl and help us without more excuse, For the pisspot between us we cannot get loose. 10. Pretty nancy she tried to set them both free, But as soon as she touch’d it, they stuck to it all three; The conjuror open’d the door, being day, And then on his conjuring pipes ’gan to play. 11. stark naked in smocks, thro’ the town they did dance, Till they met with a lusty bold tailor by chance, Who would break the pot, being lusty and strong, But as soon as he touch’d it went dancing along. 12. This piping it led them along the highway, Till they came to the place where the husband he lay, Then hearing the noise spoke out of the oak, like a man sore affrighted, these words then he spoke. page 57 13. is this my friend robert, our good parish clerk? is it you that has tickled my wife in the dark? 94 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And for the offence, i am well satisfied, i’ll presently whip off your nutmegs, he cried. 14. The clerk then he offered to give him ten pounds, it is but a tresspass said he, on the grounds, But the farmer no less than a hundred would have, And the other would give it his nutmegs to save. 15. They sent for apparel, and when they were drest, They went to an ale house to laugh at the jest; The farmer no less than an hundred would have, And the other he gave it, his nutmegs to save. 23. The horned Millar. 1. in cannymills there liv’d a millar, Who lately came by a purse o’ siller, But how it was, i’ll plainly tell you, But wou’dna wish the same befall you. O poor forsaken millar, O poor millar, O. 2. his wife she was a wanton yade, [jade] And frolick’d wi’ another lad, And when the millar watch’d his mill, This young man did his place fulfill. O poor horned millar, O poor millar, O. page 58 3. Ae night as he came about, Just wi’ some commisars, nae doubt, With money his accounts to pay, Being at the term of Whitsunday. O poor deceived millar, O poor millar, O. 4. The millar he came frae his mill, And at the door began to call, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 95 yet loath to wauken her out o’ sleep, in at the window he did creep. O kind and loving millar, O kind millar, O. 5. But O the spark was in the bed, Which made the millar’s wife afraid, And when she wauken’d frae her sleep, she vehemently began to shriek. O sad surprised millar, O poor millar, O. 6. My dear, said he, what is the matter, i’ll die, said he, if i’m nae better, [sic! shd be ‘she’] For i am wi’ a colick seized, A dram of gin perhaps might eased. [i.e., “ease it”] O blindfolded millar, O poor millar, O. 7. says he, there’s brandy in the house, My dear, it can be of nae use, if ye regard my life a pin, gang to stockbrig and bring me gin. [stockbridge] O kind and loving millar, O kind millar, O. page 59 8. The millar having aff his claise, To seek his breeches straight he gaes, But found the spark’s and put them on, not knowing but they were his own. O poor mistaken millar, O poor millar, O. 9. With speed he to the alehouse ran, get up, he says, gie me a dram, My wife is with a colick bad, The best o’ gin it must be had. O kind and loving millar, O poor millar, O. 96 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 10. he search’d his breeks to pay his dram, And siller plenty there he fan’, The alewife says, ye hae’t in han’, indeed, says he, i’m at a stan’. O sad surprised millar, O poor millar, O. 11. he being in a sad surprise, he scratched his head, and rubb’d his eyes, Then on the breeches he did gaze, Wherein there was the golden prize. O sad surprised millar, O poor millar, O. 12. he search’d his other pocket then, And gold in plenty there he fan’, Then some bank notes he found beside, sure i’m enchanted now, he cried. O sad surprised millar, O poor millar, O. page 60 13. how came i by this, he did say, At last he spied a watche’s key, A watche’s key! sure all’s nae right! some man’s been wi’ my wife this night! O poor jealous millar, O poor millar, O. 14. The millar home in haste he ran, And gae his wife a hearty dram, And unto her these words did say, hae ony man been here today? [i.e., ‘has’] O poor jealous millar, O poor millar, O. 15. O nane sin’ ye gaed to the mill, hae been here but just mysell, A lad was here this afternoon, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 97 But ye were here, and saw him hame. O poor jealous millar, O poor millar, O. 16. gudewife, said he, ye are a liar, For what way came this breeches here? This is his breeches i do know, sae after him, ye strumpet, go. O poor enraged millar, O poor millar, O. 17. how did this rake begin the strife, By meddling wi’ the millar’s wife, it’s made him rue the day sinsyne, he’s lost his watch, and a’ his coin. O brave fortunate millar, O brave millar, O. page 61 18. The millar to an alehouse went, A joyfu’ evening there he spent, To his companions thus did sing, Made a’ the room wi’ echo ring:– 19. This news i’ll tell you true, it is nae lie nor clatter, My wife has play’d the loon, But yet there is nae matter. O my bonny breekies, O my bonny siller, Tho’ i hae lost my wife, yet i can get anither. 24. The cuckold. 1. hark and yese hear, and a story i’l tell, [you’ll] concerning a millar that liv’d at a mill, he was as good a millar as ever pick’d a stone, But yet he never cou’d be content with his own. 98 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 2. But it fell on a time, and as it happen’d so, A pretty, pretty fairmaid to the mill did go, To grind for her father, a bushel of his corn, Which made the millar’s heart fu’ glad, and for to burn. page 62 3. he stepped up to her and these words he said,— This night ye must lie with me, ye fair maid, i hae to myself sworn, and it shall be so, Then it is in vain for to answer me no. 4. When he brought her home he to his wife said, O ye will be kind to this pretty fairmaid, When ye make her bed in the parlour below, For she is a farmer’s young daughter, you know. 5. The girl stept aside, and to his wife said, i winna sleep in your parlour’s good bed, your husband hae sworn by my life this night, That surely he is to bereave you of your right. 6. Then she lay herself down in her parlour bed, And he kiss’d his own wife in the girl’s stead; But now of his thoughts he was almost wild, For fear that he had got this fairmaid with child. 7. he call’d his man Jack, and to him he said, i now will tell you of a pretty fairmaid, she’s a handsome foot, and a handsome hand, And likewise a middle straight as hazle wand. 8. O then says Jack, now i have a ram, And to you i will give him for the same, Then says the millar, the ram shall be mine, And this pretty fairmaid she shall be thine. page 63 9. Then he’s done him down to the parlour bed, And kissed his mistress in the girl’s stead, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 99 But little, alas! did the millar know, That this pretty maid would have tricked him so. 10. Then early next morning as the sun up rose, This pretty fairmaid to the mill-lead she goes, And there she got herself and horse ready And her corn ground mill and multure free. 11. good morrow pretty maid, and how do you do? And how did your last night’s quarters please you? you very willing to me did comply, When i unto [you] came so privately. 12. But i didna sleep in your parlour bed, ye kissed your ain wife in my stead, O diel, said the millar, if that be true, For my man Jack he has kissed her too. 13. now, now says Jack, i will have my ram, For i didna bargain to lye with your dame, O said the millar, the ram shall be thine, And the horns of him ever after be mine. 14. how foolish, how foolish, a poor stupid ass, That didna ken my wife frae a bonny lass, But since it is so, i must be content, For i’m made a cuckold by my own consent. page 64 15. The fairmaid she’s done her home, and she sang, how she beguiled the millar and his man; And if ye wont believe me, ye may go and see, i’ve got my corn ground mill and multure free. 25. Johnny cowper. 1. Johnny cowper had a most beautiful wife, But she had a faut among women was rife, 100 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT she loved another as dear as her life, And sae aft as she cuckold John cowper. 2. early one morning as Johnny up went, To work for his bread was all his intent, And leaving his house to his wife’s government says— have ye any good work for John cowper? 3. As Johnny went up the dark narrow wynd, Ay whistling and singing at an old song, he met with a brewer baith lusty and strong, says— good morrow to you, Johnny cowper. 4. if ye’ll go up this dark narrow way, i’ll give you a job will last all the day, your wages at night i will handsomely pay, so this was good news to John cowper. page 65 5. i’ve told you the brewer was lusty and strong, But in the meantime he intended no wrong, But in the meantime he intended no wrong, But to lie with the wife of John cowper. 6. it happened so that the day did o’ercast, And Johnny forgot some of his tools at the last, home then he went, but the door it was fast, says— Wifie, let in Johnny cowper. 7. she being in bed with the jolly joefat she tumbled over the big brewing vat, And syne put the brewer in below that, And then open’d the door to John cowper. 8. O wifie, says Johnny, what’s that ye’ve got here? O touch it not with your finger, my dear, it’s a pig for my own use that i keep here, so gang back to your work, Johnny cowper. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 101 9. O how came you by it? or who did it send, it was sent me yesterday frae a leave friend, [dear] Women, you know, must have bits now and then, so gang back to your work, Johnny cowper. 10. O wifie, says Johnny, if this be your pig, O dear me but it is wonderous big, i think i’ll ding frae it an arm or leg, And make it remember John cowper. page 66 11. Johnny a rax at the vat he did gie, [rax = ‘reach’, but here ‘tug’] O said the brewer, O diel and woe’s me, O said the brewer, O diel and woe’s me, now what can i say to John cowper? 12. O Johnny, dear Johnny, if ye’ll set me clear, ye’se hae as much drink as will serve you a year, O good rum and brandy, gin and strong beer, And i’ll aye be a friend to John cowper. 13. ye rogue and ye loon, how dare ye to think That i wou’d lend you my wife for a drink, i shall have you gelded, and that in a wink, And make you remember John cowper. 14. if my secret ye’ll keep, and do not unfold, here is the keys of my silver and gold, go to them and take as much as ye would, And cease your fierce rage, Johnny cowper. 15. Then John was contented that it should be so, And taking the keys, away he did go, And harrow’d up handfuls till his hat was fou, says— i’se be nae langer a cooper. 16. Altho’ i hae girded ten tubs in a day, i cou’dna hae earned the half of the pay, Fairfa’ my wifie and well mat she lay, [bless; ‘mat’ = may] For she’s made a rich man of John cowper. 102 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 67 26. whistle o’er the lave o’t. 1. lucky Jap o’er the Abbystrand, [landlady] she keeps maids at her command, if ye bring siller in your hand, ye’ll whistle o’er the lave o’t. 2. lucky she keeps maidens ten, And she is feasting but and ben, And they are doing what ye ken, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 3. O her tricks gin i may tell, lucky takes a start hersell, And makes the price o’ Jean and nell, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 4. And of her trade she is so nice, she’d break her neck before her price, Wha’ll be first shall cast the dice, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 5. We daurna say that Jean’s a whore, [dare not] Tho’ she be set like a re-tour, By dancing four jigs in an hour, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 6. lucky sent her to the well, Better she had gane hersell, The stanes within her pitcher fell, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. page 68 7. First came a barber and a baker, she gae them Jean, they wou’dna tak ’er, Then brought ben Betty to the baker At whistle o’er the lave o’t. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 103 8. next came a writer wi’ his quill, said— she was a maiden to his will, says she, ye’ve but a rattle skull, gae whistle o’er the lave o’t. 9. next was crispin stout and bauld, [shoemaker] And in his hand a piggin awl But lucky cur’d him o’ the cauld, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 10. A handsome brewer to her came, And for his ale he wou’d hae rum, she set his breeches in a flame. At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 11. There came a sailor wi’ a roar, And sware he’d been too long on shore, To gang on board he did implore, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 12. upon her deck he kiest an e’e, cried— hard the weather, helm a-lee, Then crept astern right cunninglie, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. page 69 13. A sodger came to sell his sark, she sware for it she’d gie’m wark, Then call’d him out into the dark, To whistle o’er the lave o’t. 14. The sodger for her was too slee, [sly] he sat and drank the price o’ three, gied forth and left the door a-jee, [Went; ajar] saying— Whistle o’r the lave o’t. 15. next was a butcher wi’ gully an’ steel, he wou’dna ’gree without a fiel, he sware that he wou’d roast her yiel, [barren ewe or cow] At whistle o’er the lave o’t. 104 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 16. now the kirk folks were ill content, They gae in sic a sad complaint, That lucky paid nae buttock-rent, [fornication fine] For whistle o’er the lave o’t. 17. now lucky she has fled the town, lost her fame and great renown, Besides her trade is pluckit down, At whistle o’er the lave o’t. page 70 27. The astrologer. 1. There was an old astrologer in london he did dwell, For telling girls their fortunes, All others did excell. And many a pretty fairmaid, To this old man did go, All of them being willing, Their fortunes for to know. 2. Among the rest a pretty girl, To this old man she went, And for to get her fortune told, Was all her whole intent. And asking for the cunningman, [conjurer] The answer thus was made, he’s upstairs in his chamber, go call him down she said. 3. And when she saw the cunningman, she unto him did say, i hear ye can tell fortunes, come tell me mine, i pray. And if that ye the same will do, i’ll pay you well, said she, no fear of that, young girl, he said, come walk upstairs with me. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 105 page 71 4. i’ll not walk up the stairs with thee, nor any one she said, she spoke with as much modesty, As if she’d been a maid. Besides i am on haste, sir, And ought not to be stay’d, Pray, be as nimble as ye can, i’m but a servant maid. 5. The old man stood and view’d her, his schemes began to rise, Then spoke such words unto her, As made her to surprise. i own ye are a servant, But know you are no maid, its time that you were wed, my girl, you have the wanton play’d. 6. you would have laugh’d to see her blush, hearing him what he said, But she gave out for answer, That she was still a maid. O hold your tongue, my girl, he said, And do not tell me so, When ye lay with your master, not many nights ago. page 72 7. Then she began to curse and swear, she would her master bring, And he would testify for her, That there was no such thing. deny it not, my girl, he said, it makes your case look worse, your master gave to you a crown, you have it in your purse. 8. When she saw him so positive, she could it not deny, 106 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT she turn’d her right and round about, And made him thus reply:– indeed i am a maid as yet, And hopes for to remain, My master got my maidenhead, But he gave me it again. page 73 28. The Bridegroom grat, &c*. 1. A young man came to my bower door, And sair grat he, and sair grat he, [wept] A young man came to my bower door, And sair grat he, i trow. 2. Wou’d ye be in, young man, said i? [i.e., do you want to come in] Fou fain quoth he, fou fain quoth he, [gladly] Wou’d ye be in, young man, said i? Fou fain, said he, i trow. 3. i drew the latch, an’ he wan in, [won] And blythe was he, and blythe was he, i drew the latch, an’ he wan in, And blythe was he, i trow. 4. he hadna sitten a little wee while, Till sair grat he, till sair grat he, he hadna sitten a little wee while, Till sair grat he, i trow. 5. Wou’d ye hae meat, young man, said i? Fou fain quoth he, fou fain quoth he, Wou’d ye hae meat, young man, said i? Fou fain, quoth he, i trow. page 74 6. i put on the kettle and boil’d a nettle, And blythe was he, and blythe was he, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 107 i put on the kettle and boil’d a nettle, And blythe was he, i trow. 7. he hadna eaten a little wee while, Till sair grat he, till sair grat he, he hadna eaten a little wee while, Till sair grat he, i trow. 8. Wou’d ye hae a bed, young man, said i? Fou fain, quoth he, fou fain, quoth he, Wou’d ye hae a bed, young man, said i? Fou fain said he, i trow. 9. i stript him then, and laid him down, And blythe was he, and blythe was he, i stript him then, and laid him down, And blythe was he, i trow. 10. he hadna lien a little wee while, Till sair grat he, and sair grat he, he hadna lien a little wee while, Till sair grat he, i trow. 11. Wou’d ye hae a neiper, young man, said i? [neighbour, i.e., bedfellow] Fou fain, quoth he, fou fain, quoth he, Wou’d ye hae a neiper, young man, said i? Fou fain, quoth he, i trow. page 75 12. i stript me then, and laid me down, And blythe was he, and blythe was he, i stript me then, and laid me down, And blythe was he, i trow. 13. Wou’d ye be on, young man, said i? Fou fain, said he, fou fain, said he, Wou’d ye be on, young man, said i? Fou fain, quoth he, i trow. 108 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 14. i turn’d me roun’, and he wan on, And blythe was he, and blythe was he, i turn’d me roun’, and he wan on, And blythe was he, i trow. 15. he hadna been on a little wee while, Till sair grat he, and sair grat he, he hadna been on a little wee while, Till sair grat he, i trow. 16. Wou’d ye be aff, young man, said i? Fou fain, quoth he, fou fain, quoth he, Wou’d ye be aff, young man, said i? Fou fain, quoth he, i trow. 17. diel be aff, gin e’er ye win, Though sair grat he, though sair grat he, diel be aff, gin e’er ye win, Though sair greet ye, i trow. page 76 29. The Bed-making. 1. My father he fee’d me far, far frae hame, Till a very kind master, and i a dainty dame, But my mistress and i cou’d nae ways agree, Twas a’ for the love my master had for me. 2. My mistress she sent me up to the laft, ’Twas to make the men’s bed, baith fine and saft, My master he followed, and gae to me a ring, And bade me remember the bed-making. 3. My mistress she followed hard at the back, i kenna what she thought, but naething she spake, i kenna what she thought, but to me said naething, But hurried me down frae the bed-making. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 109 4. she hunted me baith frae the kitchen and ha’, And syne thro’ the parlour, amo’ the ladies a’, They asked me the matter, and how it had been, And i told them i was at the bed-making. 5. My mistress she turned me out of the door, calling me mony a strumpet and whore, My sheen were so thin that a foot i cou’dna rin, [shoes] And it’s made me remember the bed-making. 6. sae a’ ye young maids, take a warning by me, And never make the men’s bed when ye canno see, For i made the beds when i cou’dna see to spin, And i got a bonny boy at the bed-making. page 77 30. The tailor’s courtship. 1. The tailor he came here to shew, [sew] And well he kent the way to woo, And aye he pried the lassie’s mou’, [tasted] As he gied butt an’ ben, O. [i.e., ‘gaed’; through the house] sae well’s he kent the way o’t, The way o’t, the way o’t, sae well’s he kent the way o’t, That she loved the game, O. 2. When a’ the lave gied ben to sleep, [text has ‘been’; lave = rest] The tailor butt the house did creep, [through] And gae her maidenhead a wheep, And made it a’ his ain, O. The lassie she lay snoring, lay snoring, lay snoring, The lassie she lay snoring, As gin she didna ken, O. 110 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 3. in the morning when she rose, Ben the house the lassie goes, Pat butter ’mang the tailor’s brose, To gar him do’t again, O. [make] page 78 Because he kent the way o’t, The way o’t, the way o’t, Because he kent the way o’t, And her mider didna ken, O. 4. But the lassie’s wame began to swell, [womb, belly] her mider she began to scawl, [mother; scold] she tare the tailor spawl frae spawl, [limb from limb] As he had dane the wrang, O. The lassie she denied it, denied it, denied it, The lassie she denied it, And said she’d do’t again, O. 5. The tailor was call’d to the court, And at the same there was some sport, The lassie said she wasna hurt, her wame was a’ her ain, O. The lassie she denied it, denied it, denied it, The lassie she denied it, And said she’d do’t again, O. 6. But the lassie she said mider, We’ll tak’ the tailor a’ the gither, And ye, yoursell’s get a’ the siller,— The tailor will be mine, O. page 79 The session they agreed on’t, Agreed on’t, agreed on’t, The session they agreed on’t, That they the plea shou’d end, O. 7. The tailor he had little stock, seven needles in his frock, The shears belang’d to ither fock, [folk] secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 111 The bikkin was his ain, O. [bodkin] The lassie she had gear, O, had gear, O, had gear, O, The lassie she had gear, O, A mill intil a glen, O. 8. cocks and hens about the kill, [kiln] lambs and ewes about the hill, her mider had nane but hersell, her gear was a’ her ain, O. But now the tailor’s married, is married, is married, But now the tailor’s married, And laird o’ Fudgie glen, O. page 80 31. The whirley wha*. [Buchan notes:] ‘*This song was written by Mary hay, daughter of one of the earls of errol, after she was married to general scott, from whom she eloped for want of ——.’ 1. There was a bridal in our town, upon a holy day, And there was muckle, muckle mirth, And there was muckle play. The bells were rung, the auld wives sung, We to the kirk gied a’, When the bride came hame wi’ her silly bridegroom, To play wi’ his whirleywha. 2. First she turn’d her back to him, And then she turn’d her wame, And lang she look’d for kindness, But kindness there was nane. she took him in her arms twa, And kiest him ’gainst the wa’, [cast, threw] says— ly ye there, ye silly auld diel, ye’ve lost your whirleywha. 112 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 3. What’s this my father’s dane to me? he’s dane me muckle ill, he’s wedded me to a silly auld man, sair, sair against my will. had i been married to ony young man, Though never a sark ava’, [who didn’t even own a shirt] he’d lovingly squeese me in his arms, And play’d wi’ th’s whirleywha. [i.e., with his] page 81 4. now a’ the lasses o’ our town, They bear me muckle envy, But gin their case was bad as mine. Their cheeks wou’d never dry. But i’ll dress mysell in ribbons fine, nae body was e’er sae braw, And hire some bonny young lad o’ my ain, To play wi’ his whirleywha. 32. gibbie Brown. 1. One Tuesday evening we rambled, Frae strichen to rathen came down, [towns nW of Peterhead] We call’d at a victualling, a-tippling, The innkeeper’s name, gibbie Brown. sing— rare gibbie, rare gibbie, O the brave rare gibbie Brown. 2. When the first salutation was over, We then for his wellfare did spier, [ask] We call’d for a mug of October, A mug of October brown beer. sing— O rare, &c. page 82 3. We sat and we chanted together, The liquor was mellow and fine; Till Venus did darken bright Phoebus, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 113 And luna began for to shine. sing— O rare, &c. 4. We’ve heard that the great deacon Massie, Was formost at making of coats, And we found that by inspiration, That gibbie at weaving he wrought sing— O rare, &c. 5. We’ve heard that the great crispiana, Was foremost at making of sheen, [shoes] And we found by that inspiration, That Patrick a cobbler had been, sing— O rare, &c. 6. The leather it’s wonderous dear, The siller it’s ill to come in, And we’ll change the one sixpense mair, And call for a noggin of gin. sing— O rare, &c. 7. come fill up a mug of October, That is baith nappy and stale, And here is a health to his Peggy, For she brews the nappy brown ale. sing— O rare, &c. 8. We sat and we chanted together, Their was nane but auld gibbie and i, Till the Moon was on the south side of Mormond, And the sun shining on Benachie. sing— O rare, &c. page 83 9. But if i were a knight of the garter, Or some other man of renown, i wou’d sit in the robes of my grandure, And drink wi’ the said gibbie Brown. sing— O rare, &c. 114 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 33. The lady and poor Pedlar. 1. sweetly sang the nightingale, And sweetly sang she, O; But sweeter sang the proud pedlar, As he walk’d o’er the lee, O. Five hundred pounds into my pack, Of goods and white monie, O; And i wou’d give it all he said, For a night of a gay lady, O. 2. A lady lay o’er castle wa’, Beholding dale and down, O; And she beheld the pedlar, came singing thro’ the town, O. sing on, sing on, ye proud pedlar, The sang ye sung just now, O; i never sung the sang, lady But i durst well avow, O. page 84 3. Five hundred pounds into my pack, Of goods and white monie, O; And i wou’d give it all this day, For a night of a gay lady, O. O where are all my servant maids, That i pay meal and fee, O; go open the yetts, pretty Betsy, she said, let the pedlar into me, O. 4. she’s taen him by the milk white hand, And led him up the stair, O; Then brought him to her ain chamber, Where a well made bed was there, O. he lay there the livelang night, until the break of day, O; And turn’d him till his little wee pack, When he thought o’ going away, O. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 115 5. she’s taen the pack into her arms, And diddled it on her knee, O; Were it worth as much, and thrice as much, ye’d not hae a single bawbie, O. he stood mourning at the yetts, Till her good lord came hame, O; says— Who is that stands at my yetts, That makes such noise and din? O. page 85 6. O pity, O pity, kind sir, he said, if any grace can be, O; O hae some pity, my lord, he said, On a poor pedlar, like me, O. i hae travell’d along this way, Wi’ other pedlars nine, O; We kiest the cavels us among, [cast the lots] Who’d gie the rest their dine, O. [‘dinner’, hence any food] 7. The cavels gied up, the cavels gied down, And the cavels fell on me, O; But i hadnae morter to grind my spice, Till i borrowed it frae your lady, O. i borrowed your lady’s spice morter, The pistol it was my own, O; [pestle] now she’s kept my pack in pledge of that, i wadna the truth were known, O. 8. he put his hand in his pocket, And gae her guineas nine, O; O take you this, my jewel, he said, it will buy you jewels fine, O. ye’ll gie the pedlar’s pack again, his pack and his pack pin, O; never be too hard for a poor man, That has his bread to win, O. 116 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 86 9. she’s taen his pack into her arms, And kiest it o’er the wa’, O; [cast] And lightly leuch the proud pedlar, My pack hae gotten a fa’, O; i’ll take my pack upon my back, And i’ll sing thro’ the town, O; That i hae cheated a gay lady, Though my name’s but Jamie Brown, O. 34. The lasses of kinghorn. 1. ye gentlemen and cavilears, That do delight in sport, A story i will tell to thee, Although it be but short. it is as true a story, As ever ye did hear, how the lasses of Kinghorn, Put our officers in fear. 2. it was upon a Wednesday, in the month of January; some of our brave commanders, Went to Kinghorn ferry. The tide being out ere they went there, Went back to town again, And brought wi’ them a chapman lad, [peddler, hawker] A prisoner they had taen. page 87 3. As they walked on along the way, The chapman made his moan, he hung his head and cried alas! That ever i was born. i’m but a poor, poor chapman lad, They’ve taen frae me my pack, And all my seven year’s gathering, They’ve left me nae ae plack. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 117 4. And yet they will not be content, nor will they let me go, But i maun be a sodger lad, To Flanders i maun go. To Flanders i maun go, he said. A sodger for to be, But i’ll be dead ere i win there, i’ll grow sae sick at sea. 5. The lasses they came down the town, To hear him make his moan, And one of them courageously, she’s to the captain gone. And said to him courageously, sir, winna ye lat him gang? he answer’d her right furiously, i’d rather see him hang. page 88 6. The lasses being greiv’d at this, And took it for a slight, saying he shall be released, in spite of all your might. Then forth came all the women, And gather’d in a row, Wi’ bleaching knocks and harrow bulls, i wat they werna slow. 7. The first was sarah sherriden, At bleaching she was gude, she gart the ancient staggar, in place wherein they stood. Then took the captain by the breast, i wat she wasna slow gae him a clink upo’ the crown, said— Awa’, ye rogue, awa’. 8. Then forth came Bessy Walker An honest widow wife, And listening to her neighbours, 118 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT says—What makes a’ this strife? They’ve taen the chapman laddie’s pack, This is what i did see; And were it nae for King William’s sake. i’d drown them in the sea. page 89 9. Then forth came christian Turnbull, sware this shou’d nae be so, And Margaret copland followed her, As fast as she cou’d go. They dang on them sae furiously, [thumped] They yield at their desire, And took their heels and fled for life, And o’er the burn like fire. 10. The ferrymen rejoiced at this, When they beheld the sport, To see the sodgers run away, For shelter to their boat. said— Fye upon you sodgers, That ever ye got pay, When the lasses of Kinghorn hae made you run away. page 90 35. The Sodgers of edinburgh. 1. A troop of sodgers in edinburgh, sat merrily drinking at the wine, There fell a rousing them among, About the lasses that go so fine. When out it speaks an officer, As brave a man’s in the company, There is a lass into this town, And a sight o’ her fain wou’d i see. 2. now i wou’d gie to any one, A guinea and a pint of wine, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 119 i’d give the same to my landlady, if she’d but wile the lassie in. The auld wife she went down the stair, And aye she called on her name, The lassie answer’d her, and said, What are your wills with me, my dame? 3. My wills with you they are but sma’, it’s not to do your body harm, But if you wou’d my favour gain, come up and take a glass of wine. My mother stands on your stair head, And aye she’s calling on my name, i am a lassie fair and gay, And sore afraid for your merry men. page 91 4. My merry men they’ve all gone out, And they will not be in till nine, And if ye wou’d my favour won, [sic] come up and take one glass of wine. she got her up and barr’d the door, And left her in the bower alone, And who saw she was sitting there But a well-dressed gentleman. 5. he’s taen her in his arms twa, And he has kiss’d her cheek and chin, And set her down his knee upon, said— My dear, thou’rt a pretty thing. now since you’ve got me here, she said, And with you i am left alone, i hope you’ll be as good, young man, As tell to me what is your name. 6. i’ll tell to you my name, my dear, The thing i never told to one, i’m youngest son to the earl of Wymess [Wemyss] My eldest brother heirs the land. 120 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT so i must be some highway man, Or then a sodger as i am. [Two lines seem to be missing here] 7. now the lassie sat and grat, And now these words she said between, And aye the lassie sat and grat, Woe to the auld wife brought me in. page 92 But they hadna been in edinburgh, A month, a month, but barely ane, Till they got a call baith ane and all, it was to sail for new england. 8. O fareyewell now bonnie edinburgh, And all ye girls up and down, And fareyewell ye pretty creature, ye’ve gotten a clod that winna cling. But aye the lassie sat and grat, And aye these words she said between, And aye the lassie sat and grat, Woe to the wife that brought me in. 9. he hadna been in new england, A month, a month, but barely ane, Till he received the captain’s pay, And made her lady of the same. now the lassie sat and sang, And now these words she said between, now the lassie sat and sang, leal on the wife that brought me in. [Blessings on] page 93 36. dickie Melvin. The Wife sings – 1. dick Melvin, dick Melvin, now since ye are gone, To bring me a bottle of Absolam, i’ll make you a cuckold before ye come home, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 121 And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale, more ale, And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale. The Parson sings – 2. dick Melvin, dick Melvin, so little ye think, We’re eating your bread, and drinking your drink, And as sure’s i hae life i will lie with your wife, And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale, more ale, And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale. The Waggoner sings – 3. dick Melvin, dick Melvin, i know you are here, Then out of your hop bag you now will appear, in the midst of mishap i will stand at your back, And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale, more ale, And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale. dick Melvin sings – 4. good morrow now gentry, all, all in a row, i’m glad that your secrets i’m come for to know, The parson’s be gelded before we do go, And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale, more ale, And we’ll sing to the bottle more ale. page 94 5. They gelded the parson without more delay, Then went to a tavern, as i do hear say, dick and the Waggoner drank merry that day, And they sang to the bottle more ale, more ale, And they sang to the bottle more ale. 37. The lang girdin’ o’t. 1. As i came in by Peterhead, hech hey, the girdin’ o’t; [driving, pushing, hence copulating] i met a lassie clad in red, An’ that’s the lang girdin’ o’t. 122 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT she was a dainty dame, indeed An’ was right decent in her weed, By dancing she had gain’d her bread, A tune, they ca’ the girdin’ o’t. 2. As i came in by the north shore, hech hey, the girdin’ o’t; in by Marget cullen’s door, An’ that’s the lang girdin’ o’t. he took her to a cellar door, Of kisses he gae her five score, And what they did was something more, For there they danc’d the girdin’ o’t. page 95 3. They wouldna stay into the barn, hech hey, the girdin’ o’t; But into red the ravell’d yarn, An’ that’s the lang girdin’ o’t. The lad he got the lass wi’ bairn, An’ yet he thought he’d dane nae harm, An’ yet he thought he’d dane nae harm, Though he had danc’d the girdin’ o’t. 4. On her boddice wou’dna lie, hech hey, the girdin’ o’t; nor yet her apron wou’d it tie, An’ that’s the lang girdin’ o’t. her petticoats kilt till her hose, she thought she’d suppèd mony brose it wasna so as she suppos’d For she had danc’d the girdin’ o’t. 5. To doctor Anderson, she went, hech hey, the girdin’ o’t; Thinking this plague for to prevent, An’ that’s the lang girdin’ o’t. The doctor winked wi’ his eye, And said the nine months will draw nigh, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 123 That ye’ll be forc’d in bed to lie, For ye hae danc’d the girdin’ o’t. page 96 6. As doctor Moir was ready by, hech hey, the girdin’ o’t; she at her window did him spy, An’ that’s the lang girdin’ o’t. Then she gae mony shoot an’ cry, says,— sir, is there nae remedy, else for health i’ll surely die, For i hae danc’d the girdin’ o’t. 7. if a’ young women wou’d do well, hech hey, the girdin’ o’t; And stay at hame an’ spin their wheel, That’s the lang girdin’ o’t. There wou’d be nae use for cuttie stools, nor to the parish becomes as fools, i’m very sure the smart they’ll feel, if ance they’ll dance the girdin’ o’t. page 97 38. The di’el and the feathery wife. 1. By a’ the plagues that’s on the earth, And ever man befall, hunger and a scolding wife, They are the worst of all. in our town there lived A man of mean degree, And these two plagues him troubled much, The worst of luck had he. 2. As he was in the forest once, Betwixt hope and despair, The devil started from a bush, And stood before him there. 124 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT O what’s the matter, the diel, he said, ye look sae discontent, sure ye want money to buy some bread, Or pay some landlord’s rent? 3. deed, kind sir, ye read me right, The cause of my disease; Tell me your name, kind sir, said he, O tell me ’t if you please. My name is duncan, said the diel, i unto thee do tell; Although that i be wandering here, My dwelling is in hell. page 98 4. What will ye gie? the diel, he said, i’ll end all your debate, ye shall hae meal an’ cattle eneuch, And never want of meat. i’ve naething to gie, the poor man said, nae thing under my hand, But any thing that i can do, shall be at your command. 5. i’ll make a bargain with you then, A bargain sure to stand, ye’ll bring me a beast at seven year’s end, i cannot tell it’s name. But if the beast i name aright, (Mark well what i you tell) Then ye must go with me, he said, directly down to hell. 6. The poor man then went home again, Turn’d rich in each degree, And all his neighbours wonder’d much, sae poor’s he used to be. When seven years were come and gane, And all full gone and spent, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 125 This poor man full of sorrow grew, And sorely did lament. page 99 7. O what’s the matter? his wife did say, ye look sae discontent, sure ye hae got some whore wi’ bairn, And seems for to repent. indeed, kind wife, ye wrong me much, it’s not so, i declare, i’ve made a bargain wi’ the diel, it puts me in despair. 8. i’ve made a bargain with him then, A bargain sure to stand, To bring him a beast at seven year’s end, he cannot tell it’s name. And if the beast he name aright, (Mark well what i you tell) Then i must go with him, forthwith, directly down to hell. 9. never mind it husband now, she says, your cattle feed and keep, For women’s wit is very good, sometimes in present need. get me bird lime here, she says, lay it upon the floor, stark naked i will strip myself, Anoint my body o’er. page 100 10. Then get to me a tub of feathers, And set them me beside, And i will tumble o’er in it, Till not a spot be freed. When she had tumbled o’er in it, Frae her neck unto heel, Then merry, said he, ye’re a strange beast, you look just like the diel. 126 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 11. Then tie a string about my neck, And lead me to that place, And i will keep you frae the diel, if i am granted grace. When in the sight o’ the diel he came, he looked brazen bold, Merry, quoth he, strange is your beast, your bargain seems to hold. 12. how many more hae ye o’ them? how many o’ this kind? i hae seven more o’ these beasts, That in this world do run. if ye’ve seven more of these beasts, That in this world ye tell, ye fairly hae defeat me now, And a’ the diels in hell. page 101 39. wattie and Jeannie. 1. Poor Jeannie’s taen a sudden tout [illness] And she’s spew’d a’ her crowdie, [thick gruel] And Maggie ran to fetch a dram, And chang’d a wee nip gowdie. To brewer John she made her moan, While tears did fa’ and blind her, What’ll come o’ me gin my dawtie die, i canno live behind her. 2. she’s surely gotten some fousome drink, [foul-tasting, nauseous] Or some sour ale she’s tasted, i fear there’s something in her wame That’s sair to be digested. But i pat a plaister to her belly, [poultice, medication] O gude green herbs, well shorn, And be it wind, or be it worms, i’ll ken afore the morn. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 127 3. upon the morn Jeannie raise, And ower the green did wander, she gae to Watt a nod and wink, We’ll did he understand her. [i.e., Well] come Wattie, lad, and crack wi’ me, [chat] in the how where nane will hear us, [howe, hollow] i doubt, we twa hae danced a jig [i fear] That a’ the warld will jeer us. page 102 4. For ye’ll mind that night amo’ the broom, [remember] ye made me drink the brandy, And syne turn’d up my petticoats, And play’d at houghmagandy. [fornication] syne Wattie fidged and claw’d his lug, [fidgeted; ear] And syne he claw’d his elbow; O what if i shou’d marry thee, My mither she wou’d fell you. 5. For she says ye’re but a lightsome lass, And loups amo’ the laddies, And gin ye’ve gotten a bastard bairn, [if] The diel how she wou’d daud us. [beat] Well Wattie lad, i’ll tell the kirk, And the minister he’ll cow thee; [rate, upbraid] syne ye maun mount the cutty stool, [sinner’s seat in church] Though your mither shou’d destroy thee. 6. As ye’re a soutter to your trade, your awls pack in your apron; Wi’ lingels, lasts, and roset balls [rosin] slip ower to aunty Katerins. Till through the kirk they cry you thrice, [post the banns] And this be done on sunday, And syne gin ye be hale at heart, [if you’re still willing] We’ll see the priest on Monday. [marry] page 103 7. But Wattie’s mither judged the jaunt, Amo’ the bushes lurkit, 128 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And hearing a’ that was propos’d, cries yall! quoth she, we’ll durk it [yell; frustrate] And hae ye lad, lifted her leg, i wou’d rather kist some beggar, come in my gripes, i’ll yark your hips, [grip; beat, strike] ye filthy lecherous neigour. [lout] 8. But Wattie’s taen a sudden spring, And left them baith behind him; gaed west the hill, and ower the hill, They kentna whare to find him. And he’s gaen to a hallow fair, And met wi’ serjeant ivans, And he’s gane him a sword and gun, [should be ‘gien’, given] And Jeannie keeps the leavens. [leavings] 9. A lump o’ great forbidden beef, As big as ony bastard; young lassies a’ beware o’ this, For fear ye get a blast o’t. As Jeannie’s dane unto her cost, Which makes her sit a greeting, While ither maids are wanton free, An’ rock when they are sleeping. page 104 40. hay of ranna’s lament. ye gallants sae witty, give ear to my ditty, The story is pretty to you i will tell, it is of my ramble, And how i did gambol, 5 And all the misfortunes that to me befell. i set up to london With money full store, As i never had seen that fine city before, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 129 i ranted and rambled 10 Among maids assembled, And took a delight for to bob in their beds. As i walk’d thro’ the city, A girl so pretty, came boldly up to me so late in the night, 15 And asked me to treat her, i thought i cou’d eat her, she being so nicely drest up in her white. We hurried us into a lane near by, Then into an alehouse so cunning and sly; 20 The shape of her body, and hair of her head, Then made me right fond to bod in her bed. [sic: should be ‘bob’] page 105 in a bed in the chamber, And i being a stranger, The madam she took her for to be my wife, 25 While store of good liquor, Around us did glister i never was bobb’d so before in my life. Being set in the house, The landlord and spouse, 30 came swinging around me with liquor to swill. When drunk then they stript me, And in bed they put me, And called next morning to pay up my bill. so heavy i slumber’d 35 They thought me some lumber, The drawer came to me by nine the next day, And ask’d for my duchess, And where were my breeches, My watch, clothes and money, being all quite away. 40 When i lift up my eyes, With sudden surprise, 130 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT For quickly i found the young jilt she was fled, And fifty bright guineas she took for her prize, 45 so i swingingly paid for a bob in her bed. page 106 To a justice they brought me, Without shoes or breeches, But wrapt in a blanket to pay for my sin, Five pounds for one lawin, 50 [reckoning] i had for to pay them, And wish’d myself back in the country again. They asked for my note, Which to them i wrote, And justly i told them the whole should be paid, 55 The justice discharg’d me, The landlord reliev’d me, But stript me stark naked for a bob in the bed. A friend in the town, he to me did lend, 60 A suit of apparel and money again, The loss being reprieved, But grief not retrieved, homewards i went with a heart full of pain. i solemnly swear, 65 As i do declare, To ramble no more among the young jades As i’m brisk and jolly, i’ve paid for my folly, so i’ve no more intention to bob in their beds. 70 page 107 41. will ye lend me your loom, lass? 1. O lassie are ye wawking yet? Or if ye’re sleeping, i wou’d wait, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 131 love has bound me hand and foot, And fain wou’d i be in, O. My father he’s gaen up the street, My mither is lying fast asleep, Our chamber door cries churly cheep, And in you canno’ win, O. [you can’t go in] 2. ye’ll creep the door on hands and feet, spit on the bands till they be wet, The door will neither jingle nor cheep, ye’ll gently lat me in, O. she crap the door on hands and feet, spat on the bands till they were wet, The door did neither jingle nor cheep, she raise and loot him in, O. [let] 3. Will ye lend me your loom, lass? your loom, lass, your loom, lass, Will ye lend me your loom, lass? i’ll lend you mine again, O. i’ve lent my loom to nine or ten, They were a’ uncanny men, The hindmost o’ them brake his pen, The first time he wan on, O. page 108 4. O lassie tak’ nae fear o’ me, For i’m as canny’s ye may see, if ye lend your loom to me, i’ll lend you mine again, O. i am the laird o’ Tirryfiddle, i hae a gude Whitechapel needle, Wou’d gie your white seam a tweedle, lass ye may try again, O. 5. When a’ was dane, an’ a’ was said, Out got the bottom o’ the bed, The lassie look’d’s her nose had bled, her mither heard the din, O. The laddie he took heels and fled, 132 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And to the hills like ony gled, [hawk, buzzard, or kite] happy am i that i hae sped, To havel i’m right fain, O. page 109 42. Preston Peggie. 1. A maid called Peggie, To proud Preston went, To view the scots rebels, This was her intent. A noble scots lord, That lay nearhand by, upon this young lady, he then cast an eye. 2. he call’d on his servant, That on him did wait, says — go to yon damsel, That sings at the gate. her voice is so lovely, so charming and sweet, And aye in my name, lad, ye do her invite. 3. said he, pretty Peggie, your beauty’s ador’d, By no less a one, Than a noble scots lord. you’ve ravish’d his ears, Wi’ your music so sweet, That into his chamber he does you invite. page 110 4. When that she came, his master before, The name of this girl, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 133 he then did inquire. About such small matters, What need you desire, sir, i was born, in merry yorkshire. 5. As for my calling, i’ll tell you downright, i’m a lady of pleasure, By day and by night. And for to oblige you, i’ll think no more sin, nor raising rebellion [i.e., ‘than’] Against a good king. 6. Wi’ that he has taen her, By the lily white hand, And into his chamber, A bed there did stand. he on his houboy [oboe (sexual metaphor)] began for to play, O’er hills and o’er dales, And aye far away. page 111 7. But when troublesome pleasure had lull’d him asleep, This maid in her chamber, Began for to creep. And out of his pockets Taen a long purse of gold, There were jewels and diamonds Most rare to behold. 8. his watch of gold also, she took for her prize, And slipt out of doors, like a maid in disguise. And left the scots lord, 134 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT On his houboy to play, O’er hills and o’er dales, And she’s far away. 9. This maid lately came From merry yorkshire, she’s pleased herself, To her heart’s desire. And stays in long Preston, To bring up her birth, To that noble scots rebel, called the duke of Perth. page 112 43. The young dairymaid. 1. i am a young dairymaid, both braw and tight, in minding my dairy i take great delight; in making both butter and cheese that is new, And a young man to play with my how-do-you-do. it’s gee ho, whup and down, gee ho, whup and down; gee ho, whup and down, Whup and gee ho. 2. The first is young Johnny, a pretty plough boy, he calls me his true love, his comfort and joy; he kisses me sweet, and my cheeks he does pat, he is welcome at all times to my hairy hat. it’s gee ho, &c. 3. The next is a farmer’s son, a buxom young lad, And many a frolic together we have had, he kisses me sweet, and he slips it in tight, And he gives me a tune on his stammering pipe. it’s gee ho, &c. 4. These famous young men, they are all roving blades, They take great delight in courting fair maids, They are good natur’d, both willing and free, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 135 And they are the lads that will shove it in me. it’s gee ho, &c. 5. My mother oft told me of young men beware, For fear they should bring my poor heart in a snare, But for all her advice i care not a fig, They are welcome at all times to my hairy wig. it’s gee ho, &c. page 113 44. The Bonny lad. 1. A bonny lad there was, young Jockie was his name; he courted long a lass, But could not wrong her fame. 2. he offer’d gold, he offer’d land, he woo’d her night and day, But still she would not understand, But answer’d Jockie, nay. 3. But Jockie, he, a wary loon, Found once a happy hour, Well’s me, quoth he, i’ll have my boon, And he led her to a bower. 4. Where he laid her on the grass, And they had meikle play, But ever since, the bonny, bonny lass, she ne’er said Jockie, nay, no, she ne’er said Jockie, nay. page 114 45. The Irishman and cobler. An irishman of late, By chance it was his fate, 136 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT To be medling, medling, with a cobler’s doxy, And just in the deed, the cobler came with speed, 5 And he caught him, hurra, and he fought him, hurra, i’ll give you sauce, and a pox to you. And all the way he went, he caus’d him to repent, With a stirrup, a stirrup, to his heart’s desire, 10 he bang’d his irish hide, Till poor Teague he cried, For god’s sake, hub, bub, boo, my bones ake, hallall all loo, by st. Patrick i’m all on fire. The mob they came about, 15 And hearing such a rout, They demanded, demanded, what was there the matter, he told to all of them, And they replied again, you thump him, hub, bub, boo, we’ll pump him,20 ha, la, la, lou, and well duck him quickly after. page 115 46. The friar and Maid. 1. A lovely maid to a friar came, To confess in a morning early, What’s this, says he, that you have done, come tell to me sincerely? i have done, sir, what i dare not name, With a lad that loves me dearly. 2. The greatest crime that i know to myself, To you i do discover, Then it’s to rome that you must go, strict discipline to suffer, lack-a-day, sir, since it must be so, Pray, with me, send my lover. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 137 3. no, no, no, no, my dear, you dream, We must have no double dealing, But if you’ll repeat the same with me, i’ll pardon your past failing, i must own, sir, tho’ i blush for shame, your pennance is prevailing. page 116 47. damon and colia. 1. young damon knockt at colia’s door, he sigh’d, he weep’d, he vow’d and swore, The sign was so, the sign was so, she answer’d no, no, no, no, no, no. 2. Again he sigh’d, again he pray’d, no, no, damon, i am afraid, remember, damon, i am a maid, remember, damon, i am a maid. 3. At length his vows and tears made way, she rose and softly turn’d the key; come in, said she, but do not stay, i do conclude, ye will be rude, But if you will, you may. page 117 48. gossip John. 1. good morrow, gossip John, Where have you been walking? i have for you at home, A budget full of talking, gossip John. 2. My hen has strayed away, i do not know the reason, My goose has hatch’d to-day, A week before the season, gossip John. 138 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 3. My sparrow’s flow’n away, And will no more come to me, i broke a glass to-day, The price on’t will undo me, gossip John. 4. i coft my wedding ring, [bought (see note)] Was made of silver gilded; And drink might please a king, The lousie cat has spilt it, gossip John. 5. i had a hairy groat, [silver fourpenny coin] Was left me by my grannie, i cannot find it out, Tho’ i’ve sought every crannie, gossip John. 6. My pocket is cut off, ’Twas full of sugar candy, And i cannot cure the cough Without a dram of brandy, gossip John. page 118 7. My duck has eat a snail, And was not that a wonder, The horns stuck in her tail, And split her rump asunder, gossip John. 8. i have a lazy maid, she will not rock the cradle, To beat her i’m afraid, lest that i break my ladle, gossip John. 9. My husband he got drunk, And lay all night a-snoring, And i did swear next morn, That he had been a-whoring, gossip John. 10. Oh pity, pity me, Or i shall run distracted, i’ve cried till i can’t see, To think how things are acted, gossip John. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 139 11. let’s to the gin shop go, And wash down all our sorrow, My griefs in part you know, The rest i’ll tell to-morrow, gossip John. 13. At heart i’m very sick, i fear i take a fever, My sorrows break my sleep, cause bring me some geneva, gossip John. page 119 14. last night i met my spark, And he was wonderous mellow, We jostled in the dark, And he’s cuckold my poor fellow, gossip John. 15. My husband’s gone from home, And he won’t be back ere Munday, And i’m left all alone, come sup with me on sunday, gossip John. 49. The dyer of roan. [ i.e., rouen] 1. in good King lewis’s land, in a city of high degree; There lived a dyer grand, And a very good dyer was he. This dyer was married forsooth, And married in truth was he, To a maid in the bloom of her youth, And she gave him some jealousy. 2. in vain had he sought to discover, What he little desired to see, never dreaming his wife had a lover, Of monkey fac’d Monsieur l’Abbee. he thought of a politick way, To bring all the matter to light, 140 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT By his feigning a journey one day, And by lying in ambush at night. page 120 3. The horses were brought to the door, ev’ry sign of a journey appears; Whilst his wife (that dissembling whore,) Was bedew’d in her crocodile tears. A thousand grimaces she made, To show forth her grief at his parting; But that was the trick of the jade, And regardless as old women’s farting. 4. The dyer was now out of sight, And prepar’d to discover the treason; you will find he was much in the right, And i’m going to tell you the reason: The wife was no sooner alone, But she sent for her father-confessor, he put his best pantaloons on, And he ran like the devil to bless her. 5. The damsel with smiles on her face, Met the Abbot and gave him a kiss, But no man would have been in his place, if he had known of the Jerquer in piss. We now may suppose them together, confessing and pressing each other; Bound fast, in love’s thong of white leather, Was the reverend catholic brother. page 121 6. some hours were past at this rate, When the husband, with pass-par-tout keys, [passkeys] Made no scruple to open the gate, And caught napping the hog in his pease. Father Abbot, quoth he, (without passion,) is this your church-way of confession? Altho’ ’tis a thing much in fashion, it is nevertheless a transgression. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 141 7. The Abbot, as you may believe, had but little to say for himself; he knew well what he ought to receive, For his being so arrant an elf; his clothes he got on with all speed, And conducted he was by the dyer, To be duckt (as you after may read) And be cool’d from his amorous fire. 8. Quoth the dyer, most reverend father, since i find you’re so hot upon wenching, i have gather’d my servants together, To give you a taste of our drenching, here – Tom, harry, roger, and dick! Take the Abbot, undress him, and douse him; They obey’d in that very same nick, To the dye-vat they take him and souse him. page 122 9. To behold what a figure he made, such a monster there never was seen; ’Twas enough to make satan afraid, he was colour’d all over with green. The dyer had pleasure enough, When he thought how he dyed him for life, ’Twas much better than using him rough, since he only had lain with his wife. 10. The Abbot was led to the door, And he took to his heels in a trice, never looking behind or before; it was now not a time to be nice. ’Tis reported by some of his neighbours, That he did not discover till morning, The excellent fruits of his labours, nor the colour he had for his horning. 11. But, good lack, when he came to the glass, And beheld such a strange alteration, he was dy’d of the colour of grass, 142 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And had like to have died with vexation. As this stain can be never got out, And the Abbot must lose the church-fleece, let him bear the disgrace (like a lout) To be shown for a penny apiece. page 123 50. Slow Men of london. 1. There were three lads in our town, slow men of london! They courted a widow was bonny and brown, And yet they left her undone. 2. They went to work without their tools, slow men of london! The widow she sent them away like fools, Because they left her undone. 3. They often tasted the widow’s cheer, slow men of london! But yet the widow was never the near, For still they left her undone. 4. Blow ye winds; and come down rain; slow men of london! They never shall woo this widow again, Because they left her undone. page 124 51. The Protestation. 1. gin thou wert my ain thing, i wou’d love thee, i wou’d love thee; gin thou wert my ain thing, so dearly i wou’d love thee. i wou’d clasp thee in my arms, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 143 i’d secure thee from all harms, Above all mortals thou hast charms, so dearly i do love thee. 2. Of grace divine thou needs must be, since nothing earthly equals thee; For heaven’s sake, Oh! favour me, Who only lives to love thee. The gods one thing peculiar have, To ruin none whom they can save; O! for their sake support a slave, Who only lives to love thee. 3. To merit i no claim can make, But that i love, and for thy sake, What man can name, i’ll undertake; so dearly i do love thee. My passion, constant as the sun, Flames stronger still, will ne’er have done, Till fates my thread of life have spun, Which breathing out, i’ll love thee. page 125 4. like bees that suck the morning dew, Frae flowers of sweetest scent and hue, sae wad i dwell upo’ thy mou’, And gar the gods envy me. sae lang’s i had the use of light, i’d on thy beauties feast my sight, syne in soft whispers thro the night, i’d tell how much i loo’d thee. 5. how fair and ruddy is my Jean, she moves a goddess o’er the green; Were i a king, thou shou’d be queen, nane but mysell aboon thee. i’d grasp thee to this breast of mine, Whilst thou like ivy or the vine, Around my stronger limbs shou’d twine, Form’d hardy to defend thee. 144 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 6. Time’s on the wing, and will not stay, in shining youth let’s make our hay, since love admits of nae delay, O let nae scorn undo thee. While love does at his altar stand, hae there’s my heart, gie me thy hand, And with ilk smile, thou shalt command, The will of him wha loves thee. page 126 52. John and Susan. 1. ’Twas in the land of cyder, At a place call’d Brampton-Bryon, such a prank was play’d Twixt man and maid, That all the saints cried fye on, 2. For gentle John and susan Were oft at recreation; To tell the truth, This vig’rous youth, caus’d a dreadful conflagration. 3. Both morning, noon, and night, sir, Brisk John was at her crupper; he got in her geers Five times before pray’rs, And six times after supper. 4. John being well provided so closely did solace her, That susan’s waist so slackly lac’d, shew’d signs of Babe of grace, sir. 5. But when the knight perceived That susan had been sinning, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 145 And that this lass, For want of grace, lov’d kissing more than spinning. page 127 6. To cleanse the house from scandal, And filthy fornication; Of all such crimes, To shew the times his utter detestation; 7. he took baith bed and bolster, nay, blankets, sheets, and pillows, With Johnny’s frock, And susan’s smock, And burnt them in the kiln-house. 8. And every vile utensil, On which they had been wicked, As chairs, joint-stools, Old trunks, close-stools, And eke, the three-legg’d cricket. [foot-stool] 9. But had each thing defil’d, Been burnt at Brampton-Bryon, We all must grant, The knight wou’d want, himself a bed to lye on. page 128 53. My apron, dearie. 1. Twas forth in a morning, a morning of May, A soldier and his mistress were walking astray; And low down by yon meadow brow i heard a lass cry, My apron, deary, my apron now! 146 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 2. O had i taen counsel of father or mother, Or had i taen counsel of sister or brother, But i was a young thing, and easy to woo, And my belly bears up my apron now. 3. Thy apron, deary, i must confess, is something the shorter, tho’ naething the less; i only was wi’ ye ae night or two, And yet you cry out, my apron now! 54. a yorkshire tale 1. come hither, good people, both aged and young, And give your attention to my merry song; i’ll sing you a true one, and not hold you long, With a down, down, down, up and down, derry, derry, derry down, up and down, derry, derry down. 2. A parson there was, and whose name i cou’d tell, But suppose i do not, it is full as well, Whose wife did all yorkshire in beauty excel, With a down, &c. page 129 3. her texture so perfect, her eyes black as sloe, her hair curling shone, and like jet it did show, Which often denotes ’tis the same thing below; With a down, &c. 4. A sprightly young spark she had smitten so deep, nor day had he quiet, nor night cou’d he sleep, Which made him think how, to her bed he should creep, With a down, &c. 5. Assistance he wanted, and then did unbend his mind to a brother besure a good friend, Who said, fear not Wat, thou shalt compass thy end, With a down, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 147 6. in women’s apparel dress out, and be gay, i’ll venture my life on’t, ’twill be a sure way, if you condescend but to what i shall say, With a down, &c. 7. And thus to the parson’s this couple rode on: dear doctor, says Frank, here’s a thing to be done, Which office perform’d, i shall gratefully own, With a down, &c. 8. This lady, that long has love’s passion defy’d, And all my addresses so often deny’d, Will now make me happy by being my bride, With a down, &c. 9. ’Tis past the canonical hour, said he, And till the next morning you know it can’t be, And then i’ll attend you, sir, most readily, With a down, &c. page 130 10. says Frank, i confess, sir, you are perfectly right, But here lies the hardship, we can’t white ’tis light, [i.e., ‘while’] get to the next town for a lodging tonight, With a down, &c. 11. Take no care of that, sir, for thus it shall be, The lady, if she thinks it fit to agree, shall lie with my dearest, and you lie with me, With a down, &c. 12. you so much oblige me in what you now say, i hope in return i shall find out a way such generous kindness with thanks to repay, With a down, &c. 13. This being agreed on, both sides did consent To put the glass round and the evening was spent, in mirth and good cheer, then to bed they all went, With a down, &c. 148 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 14. no sooner in bed then, but with a bold grace, Wat full of desire, thus opened the case, dear madam, says he, i must — then did embrace, With a down, &c. 15. confounded she lay, and not able to speak, To think how these wags had deceiv’d her and dick, But at last she was pleas’d with the frolic and trick, With a down, &c. 16. he pleas’d her so well, that transported she lay, contriving and plotting for his longer stay, Which thus to her husband she form’d the next day. With a down, &c. page 131 17. This lady, my dearest, last night full of grief, Oft hugg’d me and told me, i can’t for my life, consent, tho’ i’ve promis’d him to be his wife, With a down, &c. 18. To-morrow, said she, and then freely went on, Tho’ i love him, my heart tells me i must be gone, if so, the poor man you know may be undone. With a down, &c. 19. now how to prevent this i’ll think of a way, if i can persuade her somehow for to stay, And that’s a good office, i’m sure you will say, With a down, &c. 20. ’Tis so, my dear creature, pray do what you can, To please her, and bring her to humour again, And i’ll do my best to divert the poor man, With a down, &c. 21. The plot so well taken made both their hearts bound, All night, and all day too, whenever they found convenience for pastime, her pleasure he crown’d, With a down, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 149 22. And thus my friend Wat his full swing did obtain, The wife too in transport a whole week did reign, And the man, ne’er the worse had his mare back again, With a down, &c. page 132 55. The Silent flute. 1. As damon late with cloe sat, They talk’d of am’rous blisses; Kind things he said, which she repaid, in pleasing smiles and kisses. With tuneful tongue, of love he sung; she thank’d him for his ditty, But said one day she heard him say, The flute was mighty pretty. 2. young damon, who her meaning knew, Took out his pipe to charm her; And while he strove, with wanton love, And sprightly airs, to warm her; she begg’d the swain to play one strain, in all the softest measure, Whose killing sound would sweetly wound, And make her die with pleasure. 3. eager to do’t he takes the flute, And every accent traces, love trickling thro’ his fingers flew, And whisper’d melting graces: he did his part with wond’rous art, expecting praises after; But she, instead of falling dead, Burst out into a laughter. page 133 4. Taking the hint, as cloe meant, said he, my dear be easy, i have a flute, which, tho ’tis mute, 150 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT May play a tune to please ye: Then down he laid the charming maid, he found her kind and willing; he play’d again, and tho’ each strain Was silent, yet ’twas killing. 5. Fair cloe soon approv’d the tune, And vow’ he play’d divinely; let’s have it o’er, said she, once more, it goes exceeding finely: The flute is good, that’s made of wood, And is, i own, the neatest; yet ne’ertheless, i must confess, The silent flute’s the sweetest. page 134 56. cleon and Sylvia. On the banks of a river close under the shade, young cleon and sylvia one evening were laid, The youth pleaded strongly for proof of his love, But honour had won her, his flame to reprove. she cried, where’s the lustre, when clouds shade the sun, 5 Or what is rich nectar, the taste being gone? ’Mongst flowers on the stalk sweetest odours do dwell, But if gather’d, the rose it self loses the smell. Thou dearest of nymphs, the brisk shepherd replied, if e’er thou wilt argue, begin on love’s side: 10 in matters of state let grave reason be shown, But love is a power will be ruled by none; nor should a coy beauty be counted so rare, For scandal can blast both the chaste and the fair, Most fierce are the joys love’s alembic do fill, 15 And the roses are sweetest when put to the still. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 151 page 135 57. The happy Beggar wenches. Queen of the Beggars. – 1. how blest are beggar lasses, Who never toil for treasure; We know no care but how to share each days successive pleasure: drink away, let’s be gay, Beggars still with bliss abound; Mirth and joy ne’er can cloy, Whilst the sparkling glass goes round. – First Woman. – 2. A fig for gawdy fashions, no want of clothes oppresses; We live at ease with rags and fleas, We value not our dresses. drink away, &c. – second Woman. – 3. We scorn all ladies washes, With which they spoil each feature; no patch or paint our beauties taint, We live in simple nature. drink away, &c. – Third Woman. – 4. no colic, spleen, or vapours, At morn or ev’ning teaze us; We drink not tea, or ratifia; When sick, a dram can ease us. drink away, &c. – 152 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 136 Fourth Woman. – 5. What ladies act in private, By nature’s soft compliance, We think no crime, when in our prime, To kiss without a license. drink away, &c. – Fifth Woman. – 6. We know no shame or scandal, The beggars law befriends us; We all agree in liberty, And poverty defends us. drink away, &c. – sixth Woman. – 7. like jolly beggar-wenches, Thus, thus we drown all sorrow, We live to-day, and ne’er delay Our pleasure ’till to-morrow. drink away, &c. page 137 58. The Bashful Maid. 1. Once i lov’d a charming creature, But the flame with which i burn, is not for each tender feature, nor for her wit nor sprightly turn, But for her down, down, derry down; But for her down, down, derry down. 2. On the grass i saw her lying, strait i seiz’d her tender waist; On her back she lay complying, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 153 With her lovely body plac’d, under my down, down, &c. 3. But the nymph being young and tender, cou’d not bear the dreadful smart, still unwilling to surrender, call’d mamma to take the part Of her down, down, &c. 4. Out of breath mamma came running To prevent poor nancy’s fate, But the girl, now grown more cunning, cried, Mamma, you’re come too late, For i am down, down, &c. page 138 59. Pope Joan’s kissing dance. 1. All you that do to love belong, Mind what my tale discovers; And listen well to this new song, A strange roundeau of lovers! A strange roundeau of lovers! 2. There were eight lads so blyth and gay, That lov’d seven buxom lasses; But that’s untoward, alack-a-day! When each his love misplaces. 3. young roger made a vow (d’ye see?) To be a spark of lucy’s; But lucy long’d the spouse to be Of Joseph, that so spruce is. 4. now nan had won the love of Joseph, his heart and eke his fancy; he’d be content to lose his nose, if he cou’d gain but his nancy. 154 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 5. nan cut her heart in two, to share it ’Twixt Marmaduke and Aaron; Both likely lads quoth she, i’ll swear it, As maids need wish to stare on. 6. Both Marmaduke and Aaron courted Kate, daughter to a prick-louse, [i.e., a tailor] Tho’ Katern with her suitors sported, For her sweetheart was nich’las. page 139 7. This nich’las woo’d young Joan, who ne’er With such a spark would take up; For Joan, as sure as you are there, had a month’s mind to Jacob. 8. Poor Jacob made a woful stir To compass nut-brown lettice, And fail’d, with much ado, for her Affections never met his. 9. lettice likewise her love was crost in, (Fate order’d it should so be) For once in vain, she courted Austin, And now in vain woos Toby. 10. What maid would wish to be in her case? For Toby she’s so fond on, run almost mad for little dorcas, That newly came from london. 11. Whereas she purely came to visit her fellow-servant edward, To see his pretty face, and kiss it, And gladly would go bed-ward. 12. While ned his little dorcas answer’d, For loving, i don’t blame ye, ’cause you may take an honest man’s word, That i as much love Amy. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 155 page 140 13. Amy, so passing fair to look on, And slender to behold, cry’d ’till her heart was almost broken, she would be roger’s consort. 14. These people good, in saddest mood, With love grown woundy stupid, Made piteous plaints, and told their wants, To hymen and to cupid. 15. Fain would they wed, in ring so round, eight husbands, and seven wives; And, doubtless, they must needs have found great comfort of their lives. 16. But ’twas a puzzling case to hymen, O strange! said he, ’twill work ill, For i’ve no licenses to tie men And maids in such a circle. 17. he bid them be, as ’twas but right, content with this expedient, To kiss all round, for so all might have kissing that had need on’t. 18. young roger should begin the play, The rest were in there season; To put it round in friendly way, And do each other reason. page 141 19. so roger tall, did lucy call, Quoth he, i’ll not abuse ye; good sooth! it wou’d have done one good To see him kiss sweet lucy. 20. Then lucy fair, demands her share, Of her dear sweetheart Josey, 156 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And kiss’d him so, all people know, They both grew wond’rous rosy. 21. next Joe did greet, his nan as sweet, A damsel as you can see; nan for this youth, made up her mouth, so Joseph kiss’d his nancy. 22. her sparks were twain, and that being plain, some said that she might spare one; she by her troth, cry’d, none or both, And kiss’d one more than Aaron. 23. Then Marmaduke and Aaron broke Their minds to Kate the slattern; Kind Kate held out, her dainty snout, And O! how they kiss’d Katern! 24. O nich’las! nich’las! Where’s my nic laid? Quoth Kate the tailor’s daughter, And kiss’d, and was with joy so tickled, she scarce could hold her water. page 142 25. nic run to Joan, that had no stays on, But look’d as red as claret, And kiss’d her so, that ’twou’d amaze one, how any maid could bear it. 26. Joan flew at Jacob most outrageous, And kiss’d and call’d him sweeting; cou’d he have bleated, as cinque-trey does, uds-bobs, she’d stop his bleating. [a mild oath] 27. O lettice, then quoth Jacob, stout, On thy true love take pity; she bid him kiss his kissing out, Because he was so witty. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 157 28. But lettice call’d aloud for Toby, As one would call for mustard; he fain wou’d give fair lett the go-by, But lettice kiss’d him first hard. 29. ’Tis strange to tell, or to declare, how poor Toby simper’d; When he got dorcas, his own dear, And kiss’d her quite half dead. 30. dorcas, she leer’d on ned, right wistful, And kiss’d him all to pieces, so fired, that were she but a pistol, she had gone off in face his. page 143 31. sir edward made her no repartee, Tho’ he was kiss’d so fashion; As knowing well, by rules of art, she had done it in her passion. 32. And then himself was passionate too Of Amy, queen of spinsters; he threw his wig off, and his hat too, And ran his face against hers. 33. he tows’d her with his beard so bushy, ’Twas far and near admired, And tore her coife quite off, altho she had scarce wherewith to tie her head. 34. Poor folks may be, most certainly, in love as well as ladies, And kiss as well, for ought i can tell, As they with all their gayeties. 35. Amy ne’er let a sweetheart dodge her, But kiss’d like any widow, And stifled roger, tho’ poor roger lov’d her no more than i do. 158 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 36. Thus finely they all danc’d the hay, On the best boy of mother; The jest went round, and none were found, That would not pledge the other. page 144 37. At length they clos’d and whisk’d about, As those that Margery-cree dance, Or like to folk quite wearied out, Who fain wou’d make good riddance. 38. yet loth to give it o’er, they cried, how cursed fast the day stirs! Tho’ before night, or they’re bely’d, Their lips all needed plaisters. [medical attention] 39. There ne’er was known, in all the town, such kissing as this same was; yet, keeping lent (as is decent) Pray who, quo’ they, can blame us? 40. For since (as hymen told them plain) Tho’ they most greviously burn, The wedding noose will ne’er contain so many as will Tyburn. 41. They all resolve to live right honest, And never be upbraided. O! That young folk were all admonish’d To do no worse than they did! 42. But for all this they did not miss, each sunday after sarmint, To meet and kiss, some more, some less; For kissing has no harm in’t. page 145 43. nor would they fail, for a dozen of ale, To kiss before the king, and secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 159 his gracious queen, on Turnham-green, Or any ground in england. 44. suppose you might, see such a sight, As cupid and as i did, Whate’er you are, i’d almost swear, you’d not be much afrighted. 60. The cordial. 1. Where wou’d bonny Annie lie? Alone no more ye must lye: Wou’d ye hae gudeman try? [text ‘hae’; original ‘a’] is that the thing ye’re lacking? can a lass so young as i, Venture on the bridal tie, Then down with a gudeman lye? i fear he’ll keep me waking 2. never judge until ye try, Make me your goodman, i shanna hinder you to lye, And sleep till ye be weary. What if i shou’d waking lye When the hoboys are going by, [oboes] Will ye tend me when i cry, My dear, i’m faint and iry? [i.e., eerie, unwell] page 145 3. in my bosom thou shalt lye, When thou wakeful art or dry, A healthy cordial standing by, shall presently revive thee To your will i then comply; Join us, Priest, and let me try how i’ll wi’ a gudeman lye, Who can a cordial give me. 160 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 61. The double entendre. 1. Phillis, as her wine she sip’d, in gaily talking with her swain, in her hand he slily slip’d in, Tal, lal, lal, lal, A full glass of brisk champagne. 2. Why so coy, said he, and fickle? Must i always sigh in vain? Must i never hope to tickle, Tal lal, &c. your ear with a merry strain? 3. long have i been toss’d and fretting, like a sailor on the main; sure, at length ’tis time to get in, Tal lal, &c. To the port i hope to gain. page 147 4. hearts you take delight in stealing; Of new conquests still are vain; Torture others, whilst i’m feeling, Tal lal, &c. Pleasure that’s devoid of pain. 5. Won at length she listen’d kindly, And from love cou’d not refrain; so in the nick, the nymph was finely, Tal lal, &c. Fitted for her cold disdain. 62. The gallant Schemer’s Petition. 1. By the mole on your bubbies so round and so white, By the mole on your neck, where my arms would delight, By whatever mole else you have got out of sight, i pr’ythee now hear me, dear Molly. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 161 2. By the kiss just a starting from off your moist lips, By the delicate up and down jutt of your hips, By the tip of your tongue, which all tongues out-tips, i pr’ythee now, &c. 3. By the down on your bosom on which my soul dies, By the thing of all things which you love as your eyes, By the thoughts you lie down with, and those when you rise, i pr’ythee now, &c. page 148 4. By all the soft pleasures a virgin can share, By the critical minute no virgin can bear, By the question i burn for to ask but don’t care i pr’ythee now, &c. 63. The Penitent nun. 1. dame Jane, a sprightly nun, and gay, And form’d of very yielding clay, had long with resolution strove To guard against the shafts of love. Fond cupid smiling, spies the fair, And soon he baffles all her care, in vain she strives her pain to smother, The nymph too frail, the nymph too frail Becomes a mother. 2. But now, these little follies o’er, she firmly vows she’ll sin no more; no more to vice will fall a prey, But spend in prayer each fleeting day. close in her cell immur’d she lies, nor from the cross removes her eyes, Whilst sisters crowding at the grate, spend all their time, spend all their time in worldly prate. 162 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 149 3. The Abbess, overjoyed to find This happy change in Jenny’s mind, The rest with air compos’d, addressing, — daughters, if you expect a blessing, From pious Jane, example take, The world, and all its joys forsake. We will, (they all replied as one) But first let’s do, but first let’s do As Jane has done. 64. The london ’Prentice. 1. you wanton maids who want to range, The country round about; Both night and day, to seek and search, To find young gallants out. 2. your wanton fancies for to please, Betimes give ear to me, For hear a song, i really think Will fit you to a tee. 3. ’Tis of a merchant in the strand, That had a handsome wife, And she did love the charge of men, As dear’s she lov’d her life. page 150 4. That merchant had a young prentice, That was at man’s estate, And as i understand, his wife, This prentice she did hate. 5. The life he with his mistress liv’d, caus’d him shed floods of tears, she oftentimes would call him names, And lug him by the ears. [= tug etc.] secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 163 6. This sort of life with her he liv’d, Almost the first three years; But now you’ll know thro’ policy, he did fit her as appears. 7. One day in costly rich array, she then abroad did go, And to find out the gaming knave The prentice lov’d to know. 8. Where e’er she went, he did her dog near to salisbury-court, There to a crack-shop she went in, [brothel] To act her wanton sport. 9. To fit her for her former tricks, now mark well his design; he borrow’d a new suit of clothes, Both costly, fresh, and fine. page 151 10. With beaver hat, and knotted wig, sword by his side and all; Then to the crack-shop he did go, For a private room did call. 11. he saw his mistress and one more, A topping Miss of the town, With painted face and curled hair, A walking up and down. 12. now after he had sat a while, A knock or two he gave, The drawer straightway came to him, To know what he would have. 13. his answer was, i want a Miss, The drawer straight replied; sir, you shall have one by and by, To sit down by your side. 164 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 14. Two pictures to him then was brought, For him to choose his Miss: One was his Mistresses picture, he said, i will have this. 15. Then in a short time, with impudence, she came into the room; And for to sit down by his side, This thing she did presume. page 152 16. With kisses sweet and pleasant talk, They pass’d the time away; At length two games at Frisky-huff he with her then did play. 17. As they were playing at the game Bow-bells did sweetly ring; she said to him, methinks, to me, it is a pleasant thing, 18. To hear how sweet Bow-bells do ring, And merrily they go; his answer was to her again, i love to hear that too. 19. O then of her he took his leave, And did return his clothes, To him that was the right owner, And homeward straight he goes: 20. he had been at home for hours two, Before that she came in, But little she did think or dream, he knew where she had been. 21. so this did pass on but one day, she thus began to scold And for to lug him by the ears, he said, pray Mistress, hold. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 165 page 153 22. your peace, and do not make a noise, Bow-bells they merrily go i love to hear them with all my heart, And so do you also. 23. sirrah, then these words, she said, What mean you this to say? his answer was, have you forgot, Mistress, the other day, 24. When you in salisbury-court did play, There at your wanton game, Bow-bells they then rang merrily, have you forgot the same? 25. Why, sirrah, who was there? she said, he said both you and me; And since it was my lot that time, your wanton tricks to see: 26. if e’er you beat me any more, While i with you do dwell; For your playing at Frisky-huff, i will my master tell. 27. A cursed blank, quoth she, it is That i should be trepan’d so, [tricked, entrapped] i would not for five hundred pounds, My husband should it know. page 154 28. if he then of my tricks should know, it would make him wond’rous sad; Twould fill his heart with jealousy, And make him run horn mad. 29. Then instead of kicks and blows, A kiss to him she gave, 166 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And a guinea, saying, when this is done, Thou more of me shalt have. 30. if thou wilt not thy master tell, so keep it close, you shall have money of me, when thou wilt, And i’ll be at thy call. 65. The Sailor’s frolic. 1. All you that delight in a frolicksome song, come listen a while and i’ll not keep you long, it’s of a sea captain, a frolicksome spark, Who kiss’d with a sailor’s wife when it was dark. 2. The sailor, John hanson, so called by name, his wife was a fair and a beautiful dame, On board, her dear husband she must go and see, says the captain, my girl, you’re a supper for me. page 155 3. Forbear, noble captain, your suit is in vain, My husband’s a sailor, that sails o’er the main, And you are his captain, be not so in base he’ll make us both rue if he know[s] it’s the case. 4. his bedfellow pleas’d him up to the life, he went to live with her, and left his own wife, At length the young sailor did hear by and by, But he kept it as snug as a pig in a pie. 5. The sailor resolv’d to see what was done, in the dead of the evening got into the room, And under the bed where he lay snug and warm, she sent for the captain, not thinking of harm. 6. The sailor lay snug till they were both fast asleep, Then softly from under the bed he did creep, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 167 he put on the captain’s lac’d hat and fine coat, his stockings and shoes, to make up the joke. 7. he rigg’d himself out from the top to the toe, And away to the captain’s fair lady did go, he rapp’d at the door, with courage so bold, disguised with the clothes all shining with gold. 8. The maid let him in, altho’ it was night, And half-a-sleep she gave him a light, he says, where’s your mistress, she answer’d, in bed, Then open my chamber door quickly, he said. page 156 9. Although very drunk himself he did feign, says the lady to him, you play a fine game, sometimes all the night from me you do stroll, And when you come home you’re as drunk as an owl. 10. he made her no answer, but tickled her knees, At length this young lady began to be pleas’d, he then tit for tat with the captain did play, And slept in her arms until break of day. 11. When the lady awoke, and beholding his face, Then she cried out with a pitiful case; he said, my dear lady, be not in a fright, your captain’s been kissing my wife all the night. 12. says the lady, i’ll go in coach, i protest, To see how he looks in his tarpalian dress, The sailor put on the captain’s array, And unto the captain they both took their way. 13. The sailor and lady did up the stairs trip, Where the captain in a short jacket did sit, he star’d at them both, but did not say a word, says the sailor, i thought, sir, you’d been on board. 168 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 14. says the lady, to think of it now is too late, says the captain, i hope you’ve not horned my pate, O dear, says she, captain, where must you be, When he got your clothes and came to bed to me. page 157 15. here’s plenty of gold, Jack, pull off my coat, see this to the sailors you never report, There are few that can match us you very well know, For we are all cuckolds, boys, all on a row. 66. The gown of green. 1. young women they are fickle, When young men come to woo; The more you follow after them, The more they’ll fly from you But turn your backs upon them, boys, don’t after them pursue; give them the gown of green to wear, And they will follow you. 2. young men to please their mistress Will buy them fans and rings; And other some, fine laces, But these are foolish things. But he that does his mistress love, Must use his best endeavour, To give her the gown of green to wear, And she is his for ever. page 158 3. As my love and i were walking, Just nigh unto the town, it was my wilful inclination There for to lay her down. her waist was neat and slender, her age was scarce seventeen, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 169 And with struggling now she is content, To wear the gown of green. 4. My love she’s neat and handsome, she’s comely in her dress, she thinks herself a pretty girl, indeed i think no less. it was the good old fashion, since Adam first has been, And it’s worn in every nation, boys, And call’d the gown of green. 5. As i was a walking, right nigh unto the town, There i spied some fragrant flowers gently pressed down; i smiling said within myself, somebody here has been; Or else some gentle shepherdess, has got the gown of green. page 159 67. The farmer and lace Merchant. 1. i will tell you of a Farmer That went to pay his rent, And for to pay his landlord, it was his full intent. his wife she thought he had been gone, But it was a mistake, For he was in the closet, some writing for to make. 2. Then in comes a lace merchant, she treated him with wine, she says my husband’s gone from home, To love i am inclin’d. i wish he may never come home, 170 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And this complaint she made, Then took him to a private room, Where bed and pillows laid. 3. The farmer hearing what was said, his anger rose apace, Then in the kitchen he did go, Where he found a box of lace. he took it and he open’d it And in the same he found A diamond ring, lace and bills, Worth seven hundred pound. page 160 4. Then the farmer goes into the town, As cunning as a fox, And there he got a bastard child, To put it in the box. he took his neighbour home with him, All for to see the fun, And so carefully he put the box in the same place again. 5. now with his boots and spurs on into the room he goes, And with his whip into his hand, he turn’d down the bed-clothes. Then he began to whip them both, And follow’d up his blows, The smart they could no longer bear, so run without their clothes. 6. And not thinking of a child then The lace-man took his box, Then he did run like a madman, Blood running down his locks. his wife seeing him naked, she fell into a fit, she thought by a gang of thieves, he had been robb’d or stripp’d. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 171 page 161 7. she pitied him deplorably, And did bewail his case, But it’s well you’ve sav’d your box, The diamond ring and lace. no sooner had she spoke the word, Then the child began to cry, Which made the matter ten times worse, They swore most bitterly. 8. The merchant’s forc’d to keep the child, Which grieves him to the life, A thousand times he curs’d the day he kiss’d the farmer’s wife. For horning of the farmer, he paid a thousand pounds, And never mair he durst to come, upon the farmer’s grounds. 68. fun upon fun. 1. good people i pray now draw near, And listen a while to my ditty, such a frolic you seldom will hear, it happen’d in fair london city. it is of a buxom young lass, A servant she was to a squire, he often admired her charms, her company much did desire. page 162 2. he often said, sally, my dear, i pray now consent to lie by me, And many rich presents he made, saying, My dear don’t deny me. But she always seem’d quite coy, scheming which way best to come round [him], But she kept the matter quite sly, saying, By and by i’ll confound him. 172 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 3. he came into the kitchen one night, said, sally, the joy of my heart, here’s a hundred guineas so bright, But that is only a part: you ne’er shall want money, my dear, let me but enjoy your sweet charms, Then seated himself in the chair, And press’d her quite close in his arms. 4. The hundred new guineas she took, And promis’d to go to bed to him, But as soon as he went up the stairs, she sent for a blackamore woman. And gave her ten guineas with speed, The joke for to carry on steady, Then conducted her up to his room, Where her love to receive her was ready. page 163 5. it being quite dark in the room, her colour there was no discerning, so eager he did her embrace, he slept in her arms till the morning; But as soon as it was day-light, he turn’d to embrace her so civil, he jump’d out of bed in a fright, says he, i have lain with the devil. [text ‘says, he,’] 6. But now i am properly serv’d, sally, she has me well fitted, i’d rather a thousand it cost, Before i had been so outwitted. The squire and sally were wed, he’s made her a lady so bright, her card she so cunningly play’d, And i think she was much in the right. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 173 page 164 69. The Pretty chambermaid. 1. not far from town a country squire, An open hearted blade, had long conceiv’d a strong desire To kiss his chamber maid. One summer’s eve, quite full of glee, he took her to the shade, And underneath a mulberry tree, he kiss’d his chamber maid. 2. The parson’s wife, from window high, The am’rous pair survey’d; And strongly wish’d none can deny, she’d been the chamber maid. The sport being o’er, poor Betty cried, dear sir, i’m much afraid, That woman there will tell your spouse, That you have kiss’d her maid. 3. A likely thought the squire conceiv’d, That she should not upbraid, And instantly his spouse he brought Where he had kiss’d his maid. There underneath the mulberry tree, her ladyship he laid, And there most sweetly kiss’d was she, Just like the chamber maid. page 165 4. next morning came the parson’s wife, (For scandal was her trade;) i saw your spouse, Ma’am, on my life, great with your chamber maid. When, where, and how? The lady cried, i’ll straight discharge the jade; ’Twas underneath the mulberry tree, he kiss’d your chamber maid. 174 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 5. This scandal, cried her ladyship, shall not my spouse degrade; ’Twas i myself that made a slip, And not my chamber maid. Both parties parted in a pet, Believing nought was said, And Betsy keeps her place as yet, The pretty chamber maid. page 166 70. The Parson’s fat wedder. 1. Martinmas is now come on, And christmas is drawing dear [sic] And we have nothing in the house, For to make good christmas cheer. The little wee boy standing by, hearing what his father did say, says, We will kill the minister’s wedder, [wether, gelded male sheep] And we’ll have mutton without delay. 2. The priest he’s got a good fat wedder, As e’er was fed on corn or grass; i’ve got some crumbs of bread in my pocket, Will wyle the wedder into the house. We will put on the muckle pot, And sticks below’t to make it boil, And we will kill the minister’s wedder, And we’ll have mutton without any toil. 3. The little wee boy goes to the wood, And aye so merrily as he sang; My father has kill’d the minister’s wedder,– i would not tell this to any man. The minister being in the wood, leaning his back against an oak, if you’ll sing me that song in the church, i’ll give you a crown and a new coat. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 175 page 167 4. The morrow it being christmas day, The minister he must be there, The people all flocked to the church, Just as they’d been going to a fair. The minister’s gone to the church, The congregation for to view, There’ll be a boy here in a little, Will sing a song which will be true. 5. The little wee boy came to the church, And aye so merrily as he sang; — i catch’d the priest in bed with my mother, i would not tell this to any man. you are a liar, says the priest, As sure’s in the pulpit i do stand; i never was in bed with your mother, nor yet so nigh as touch her hand. 6. Then you are a liar, says the boy, As sure’s in the pulpit you do kneel; i catch’d you in bed with my mother, And your breeches hanging to your heel. The minister being quite asham’d, The people gave a loud huzza, running like mad folk frae the church, crying, such a priest we never saw. page 168 7. But you would have laugh’d, had you but seen, how the little wee boy kept up the joke, running out after the minister, crying – give me my crown, sir, and my new coat. The parson he’s quite out of the parish, left him behind his church and wealth; The boy and’s mother fed on the wedder, And every meal they drink his health. 176 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 71. The wanton Virgins frightened. 1. All you that delight in a frolicksome song, come listen unto me a while, sir i will engage you shall not tarry long Before it will make you to smile, sir. 2. near to the town there liv’d an old man, had three pretty maids to his daughters, Of whom i shall tell such a story anon, Will tickle your fancy with laughter. 3. The old man he had in his garden a pond, ’Twas very fine summer weather, The daughters one night they were all very fond, To go and bathe in it together. page 169 4. Which they all agreed, but happened to be, espy’d by a youth in the house, sir; Who got in the garden, and climb’d up a tree, And there lay as snug as a mouse, sir. 5. The branch where he sat hung over the pond, And each puff of wind made it totter; Pleas’d with the thoughts he should sit so abscond, [hid] And see them go into the water. 6. When the old man was safe in his bed, The daughters to the pond repair’d, sir; The one to the other two, laughing, she said, As high as our bubbies will venture. [?we’ll] 7. upon the tender green grass they sat down, And they all were of delicate feature; each pull’d off her petticoats, smock and gown, no sight could ever be sweeter. 8. into the pond then they a dabbling went, [splashing] so clean that they needed no washing; secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 177 But they were all so unluckily bent, like boys they began to be dashing. 9. if any should chance to see us, says one, They’d think we are goddess’s of evils, And from the sight of us would quickly run, To avoid so many white devils. page 170 10. This put the youth into such a merry pin [humour, disposition] he let go his hold through laughter; And as it fell out, he fell tumbling in, And fear’d them all out of the water. 11. The old man by this time a noise had heard, And rose out of his bed in a fright, sir; And comes to the door with an old rusty sword; There stood in a posture to fight, sir. 12. The daughters they all ran nimbly in, And over their dad they did founder; Who cried out a loud, Mercy, good gentleman, And thought they were thieves come to plunder. 13. The noise by this time the neighbourhood hears, Who came with long clubs to assist him, he said, three bloody rogues ran up my stairs, i dared by no means to resist them. 14. For they all three were clothed in buff, he saw as they shov’d in their shoulders; And black bandiliers hung before like a ruff, Which made me believe they were soldiers. 15. The virgins their clothes in the garden had left, And the keys of their trunks in their pockets; To roll them in sheets were fain to make shift, Their chests they could not get unlockt. 178 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 171 16. At last ventur’d up these valiant young men, Tho’ armed with courage undaunted; But took them for spirits and run back again, And swore that the house it was haunted. 17. As they retreated, the young man they met, come shivering in at the door, sir; Who looked like a rat, his clothes dripping wet, no rogue that was pump’d could look worse, sir. 18. They all were amaz’d to see him come in, And ask’d him what was the matter; he told them the story, and where he had been, Which made them to burst into laughter. 19. Quoth the old man, O i was in a huff, And reckon’d to cut them asunder; Thinking that they’d been three soldiers in buff, And come for to rifle and plunder. 20. But they’re my three daughters whom i do adore, All frightened from private diversion; Therefore i’ll put up my rusty old sword, For why should i be in a passion? 21. All ye young maids that these lines revise, That go out for to wash in the night; Beware of the boys that are hid in the trees, lest that they surprise you with fright. page 172 72. The Minister’s Maid’s courtship. 1. When i was a bonny wee lassie, i liv’d by yon river side, A bonny wee laddie courted me, For to make me his bride secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 179 My master being one of the clergy, i kentna well how to do; [didn’t know] But i courted aye wi’ my laddie, And pleas’d the minister too. 2. We waited a’ opportunities, Aye when they were frae hame, We kissed and clapped each other, sae merry as we were then. sae merry as we were then, Our vows for to renew; so aye i courted my laddie, And pleas’d the minister too. 3. it was on a fine summer evening, i went out for to meet wi’ my lad, he took me into his arms, Our hearts being wond’rous glad! Oh! i maun own my crime, sir, [must] [see note – lines misplaced] Tho’ it be to my shame and disgrace, And what came o’ me then, ye needna believe me now; [needn’t] But aye i courted my laddie, And pleas’d the minister too. page 173 4. When i came hame to my mistress, she scolded and she flet; [complained] says, Where have ye been walking, That ye hae stayed sae late? That ye hae stayed sae late, your master i will tell; Thinks i, madam, ye needna fash, [be inconvenienced] For i’ll hae that to do mysell. [myself] 5. But i keepit aye up my courage, [kept] And made nae muckle din, [not much] And my laddie came aye and saw me, Aye as he gied out and in. [went] 180 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT And aye as he gied out and in, Aye he pried [my] mou’; [tasted my mouth] so aye i courted my laddie, And pleas’d the minister too. 6. But when the summer was over, O pale and wan grew i; like ane risen out o’ a fever, [one] Or ane just like to die! My master he came and ask’d me, What was the matter wi’ me? if i knew any thing that wou’d ease me, At my command it shou’d be. page 174 7. i went out for to meet wi’ the lad, The lad that goes out wi’ your mass, [two lines missing here – misplaced] his voice it was too shrill, he pitched o’er high for me, [over, too] And aye sinsyne i remember, [from that time] That i’ve been liking to die. 8. Then my laddie was sent for, And he came hinging his mou’, [his mouth drooping] says Mess John, had ye been a gude bairn, [Master, good child] We wou’dna hae sent for you. My lassie is lying sick, [i.e., morning sickness] And on you she lays a’ the blame, And ye ken ony way ye hae wrang’d her, [if you know any way that you’ve wronged her ] ye’ll raise her up again. 9. O i never harm’d your lassie, neither by night nor by day; But it was on a fine summer evening, When crossing over the way. When crossing over the way, i learn’d her how to sing, secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 181 And pitching the high notes o’ Bangour, has driven her out o’ tune. 10. Be pleas’d to marry your lassie, O marry your lassie to me; For i am resolved to hae her, Whether she live or die. Whether she live or die, To make her my wedded wife, so i will live wi’ my lassie, A sweet and contented life. page 175 73. The absent farmer. 1. The gudeman o’ the house he went [husband . . . left home] frae hame, Fa la, faling fa li; his wife was distressed in lying her lane, [alone] Pray, what a poor body was she, was she, Pray, what a poor body was she? 2. There was a spark that lived hard by, Fa la, faling fa li; she sent for him there to come speedily, And that i will do, says he, says he, And that i will do, says he. 3. The gudeman o’ the house came hame at last, Fa la, faling fa li; he knock’d at the door, but found it was fast, Pray what is the matter, said he, said he, Pray what is the matter, said he? 4. O, says she, i am almost gone, Fa la, faling fa li; if ye’d been in the yard, ye’d heard my moan, i am sorry for that, said he, said he, i am sorry for that, said he. 182 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 5. But if you will do me this favour, said he; [should be ‘she’] Fa la, faling fa li; As pu’ me an apple down aff o’ yon tree, [pull] And that i will do, says he, says he, And that i will do, says he. page 176 6. The silly auld carl clam up in the tree, [old man] Fa la, faling fa li; The spark took his staff and aff went he, And its cleverly done, said she, said she, And its cleverly done, said she. 74. The Mill, Mill, o. (original way) 1. As i came down yon bonny burn side, And in by Peggy’s Mill, O; The bonniest lass that e’er i saw, Was winnowing on the hill, O. The mill, mill, and the kill, kill, [kiln] The coggin o’ yon mill whell, O; gin yon bonny lass come this gate again, she shall get her maut ground well, O. 2. i took her by the milk-white hand, i had her to the leuder, What we did there i shall never tell, But i wat she got the muture. The mill, mill, &c. 3. i laid her head upon a sack, her back upon a mot, O; [mot or mote: a mound or hillock] And aye as the mill gaed roun’ and soun’, she got the ither jot, O. [ither jot = a ‘job’ now and then] The mill, mill, &c. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 183 4. But the sluice and cluice and a’ got out, [cluice = sluice] And the mill began to shiel, O; [scatter grain] The spindle stack fast in the mill e’e, [mill e’e = millstone hole] And the stanes they stood stock still, O. The mill, mill, &c page 177 75. The lee rig. excuse me now my dearest dear, i cannot now come near thee, O; For i’ve been at the waur horse, And i am wet and weary, O. cast aff the wet, put on the dry, 5 come to your bed my deary, O; And row me on the lee rig, My ain kind deary, O. The laddie and the lassie, gaed out to gather prinkle, O; 10 The laddie’s breeks were riven, The lassie saw his p—tle, O. [pintle, penis] how dare ye be sae baul’, sir? [bold] An’ you my father’s cottar, O, As to put in your lang thing 15 For i lat out my water, O? [‘for’ = ‘where’, north-east pronunciation.] i’ll row you up, i’ll row you down, i’ll row till ye be weary, O; An’ row you on the lee rig, My ain kind deary, O. 20 184 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT page 178 76. The farto-turdoniad: a Ballad. Addressed to Alexander Tumbleturd, esquire The following curious piece was written by the famous James Tytler; for particulars of whom, and of which, see the very interesting life of him by an American gentleman. 1. if stones, by Pyrrha cast, were chang’d To women at her word, When Pyrrha cast thy grandam then sure she had cast a turd. 2. That savoury word still in thy mouth can never be forgot; certes thy mother shit herself That time thou wast begot. 3. in prose or rhyme no other theme Thy scanty brain affords; Approve, condemn, lament, declaim, And still thy troops are turds. 4. When Tityrus, in lofty lays, [classical shepherd-poet] Pours forth his grateful heart, squire Tumble-turd the song neglects, And only lets a fart. 5. let Melibonus, in sad strains, [Another shepherd] Misfortunes dire rehearse, Our critic turns and claps his breech, [behind] And cries, ‘come kiss my arse!’ page 179 6. King Midas’ touch turn’d all to gold, As ancient Bards record; But let thy fingers touch, and then All nature is a turd. secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT 185 7. Then hear thy doom, and be afraid, Thou mighty man of dirt, cries Jove, since he will never mend, But filth around will squirt: 8. From sheets well glu’d unto his arse let him each morning rise; And let him have, when first he wakes, A turd between his eyes. 9. Then wash him in the stream that thro’ The Augean stable ran, When first to swim and roll along unnumber’d turds began. 10. go fart on him, my Æolus [a demi-god, King of the Winds] And all your farters call, But keep be sure, to leeward of The fair Olympian hall. 11. Then on him blow such dreadful farts As ne’er were heard before; yea, let all nations fart on him With one continu’d roar. page 180 12. let all the Muses on him piss, nor use another pot; let Pegasus, in angry mood, fart down his very throat. 13. On him let such strange mischiefs fall As Bards ne’er sung in verse; [ text never] yea, let his tongue be still consign’d To wipe Apollo’s arse. 14. And if he dares but once to speak, Or say his case is bitter, 186 secreT sOngs OF silence: The TeXT direct upon his empty sconce [(crown of) the head] let all the harpies skitter. 15. And when to Pluto’s coast he goes, A dark and gloomy sprite, let all the ghosts in charon’s boat, upon that spirit shite. [shit] 16. not such effluvia let them shed As bloodless ghosts afford; But let him have such solid lumps Of strong terrestrial turd. 17. let cerberus upon him piss; And if he turns to fly, Then let him have three swinging turds discharg’d upon each eye. page 181 18. let all the judges fart at him, And when he turns his tail, his ghost to Pluto’s close-stool then [commode] let them for ever nail. 19. such is the doom, unchang’d be sure The book of fate records; And such the mischiefs that attend The man who deals in turds. chorus: so fart awa’ and tak’ your blaw, Fart and never fear, man; For such a sang as i do sing you ne’er more shall hear, man. 187 cOMMenTAry [dedicatory letter] Fyvie and Marycultre are both near Aberdeen. p. ii giff-gaff means ‘mutual help’; so the expression means ‘give and take makes good friends’ – in henderson’s Scottish Proverbs (1832), p. 114. ‘One bottle more’ is a reference to the convivial song of that title. The tune is by O carolan, in O’neill, Music of ireland (1903), p. 117 (#651), etc.; words and music in The charms of Melody (1776), Watts’ Miscellany (1729–1731), p. 233, calliope (1788), p. 154, The edinburgh Musical Miscellany (1793), ii, p. 218, etc. On line 13, prevail is a rare substantive use of the word, meaning ‘benefit’. 1. The Soutter’s feast (p. 1) see greig-Duncan, iii, p. 504, no. 629; three versions with 3 tunes and a couple of fragments . A version collected by hamish henderson from Willie Mathieson is printed in ewan Maccoll’s Personal choice, p. 48. The tune used there is from the great-grandson of gavin greig, Arthur Argo, who as a boy performed this song at the ceilidh of the second edinburgh People’s Festival, 1952; see g-d B, on which greig comments ‘Phrases of tune all found in “Maggie lauder”’. A fugitive verse (st. 11) is in Paul, Past and Present of Aberdeenshire (1881), p. 158 (no. 34): The souter gaed the soo a kiss, Tantiriorum. Fie, ye rogue, it’s for my birss, Taran-antiorum. cf. a little poem (or fragment) in sharpe’s Ballad Book (1823), p. 36 (no. 12): The Soutar and the Soo The soutar gied the soo a kiss— ‘grumph’, quo’ scho, ‘it’s for my briss’. [she] 188 cOMMenTAry ‘And whare gat ye sae sweet a mou?’ Quo’ the soutar to the soo. ‘grumph’, quo’ scho, ‘And whare gat ye ‘A tongue sae sleekie and sae slee?’ [cunning; sly] The g-d version B, in 11 stanzas, is in greig fSiB (1905), p. 24 (and fSne xii, 1), missing however this stanza. greig’s burden there is ‘Tanteerie orum/ The eedle and the orum’ [bis]; ‘Thee-a-noddle, thee-a-num,/ The eedle and the orum’. The tune is related to Maggie lauder/The forfar Sodger. his A version however begins ‘There was a souter and a soo, /tanteerie orum, /And for her birse he kissed her mou, /Sing howdie ilti orum’. in 11.1 gaed is a past tense of gie, give (also gied); elsewhere it is the past tense of gae, go. The first stanza as quoted in greig, fSne, p. xii, is not accurate. ‘For the rest of the song we should have to go to harvard university, u.s.’, says greig, ‘but we have reason to know that Peter’s version would not make for edification though we had it’. in actual fact, the two are about even on the unsavoury level. in 1.1 ‘ein’ is Oyne, a town in the garioch of Aberdeenshire. in 9.3 the ‘knot’ is a lump of wax with which to wax the thread. Also in Buchan’s Bl Mss, i, no. 91 (Walker, p. 178). roud 6072. 2. Maggy lauder (p. 4) (original way) ‘Anster’ is Anstruther in Fife; also spelled ‘Ainster’ or ‘enster’, which is closer to the actual local pronunciation. 1.3 play’d the loon, played the fool, i.e., ‘indulged in sexual activity’. 6.3 means ‘gave her a thump or stroke on the buttocks’, i.e., fucked her. A similar metaphorical transfer may be seen in the version (the ‘original way’?) of ‘For a’ that’ in MMc (1799), p. 15: For a’ that, and a’ that, And twice as meikle’s a’ that; [much] The lassie gat a skelpit doup, [smacked arse] But wan the day for a’ that. On Buchan’s declaration of the ‘Original Way’, see introduction above, p. (27). There is nothing to suggest that this is not true, i.e., that the old seventeenth-century song in the anthologies is a sequel of sorts to this. The words of the old song have been ascribed to Francis semple of Beltrees and dated about 1642. it itself is rather suggestive; Burns mentions its ‘palpable allusions’, i.e., the piping and the dancing can be interpreted in a metaphoric way as a description of intercourse (see e.g. Ford, VSB, ii, 63). The direct relative (not an ancestor) of the bawdy song is a broadside preserved in A collection of old Ballads (1723), ii, ‘The scotch lass’s lamentation for the loss of her Maidenhead’, identified by W. B. Olson as the ‘Moggy lawder on a day’ (from the second verse) mentioned (as tune) by glen and chappell. ‘The Scotch lass’s lamentation for the loss of her Maidenhead’ There liv’d a lass in our Town, her name was Moggy lawder, cOMMenTAry 189 And she would fain have plaid the loon, But durst not tell her father; now she’s forgot her Father’s fear, And on the same did venture, And afterwards as you shall hear A lad did oft frequent her. now Moggy lawder on a day, A Barber lad did meet her, Both Joy and heart to her did say, And kindly he did treat her: My dear let me get thee with Bearn, And ise shall be it’s Father, And you’ll be Mother of the same, My bonny Moggy lawder. sweet-heart to him she says indeed, And so did fall a weeping, i’m wearied with my Maidenhead While i have it in keeping: But if thou’lt true and trusty be, As i am Moggy lawder, ise then will give it unto thee, But do not tell my Father. For if my Father hear the same, right sore he will abuse me, But i think long to try the game, Therefore i’ll not refuse thee: But first protest to marry me, To be my Baby’s Father, And be a husband unto me, Bonny Moggy lawder. My dear says he indeed i am, unto my Trade a shaver, And there is not a living Man, can call me a deceiver; yea surely i will marry thee, And be thy Baby’s Father, And thou shalt be a Wife to me, My bonny Moggy lawder. And then to her he gave a Kiss, saying, dear, how shall i please thee, Be sure i will do more than this, And of thy troubles ease thee: 190 cOMMenTAry And all along upon her Back, he laid poor Moggy lawder, gave her a scope upon her dope, she durst not tell her Father. With Kisses and embraces then, in Peace and love they parted, And did appoint another time, To meet there loving hearted: And with a merry heart’s content, With what the lad had gave her, rejoycing homeward as she went she sung the jolly shaver. But now the seed that late was sown, is become a springing, And she is melancholly grown, And has left off her singing: And often in her heart could wish, That she had been at callder, For edinborough is filled with, The talk of Moggy lawder. And now the Word is spread abroad, That she with Bearn has proved, The Barber lad has ta’en the road, And left the lass he loved: And to another nation’s gone, And left his Moggy lawder, right sad in heart not knowing where, To find her child a Father. All you young Maids that marry would, see that you be more coy, Throw not your Maidenhead away, lest it should you annoy: And in the end you be beguiled, As was Moggy lawder, First marry then you may be sure, your child shall have a Father. A collection of old Ballads [ed. Ambrose Phillips] (1723), ii, 258–60. The tune is given as ‘Moggy lawther’ in The Quaker’s opera (1729) (where all but the leading and last two notes are dotted eighth and sixteenth pairs) and ‘Moggy lawther on a day’ in The Begger ’s Wedding (1729). This last title is from the second verse of the song above, and shows cOMMenTAry 191 what song was known to londoners by that title. in 1730 the tune appeared in the ballad opera Patie and Peggie, and in A. craig’s collection of the choicest Scots tunes (1730). The tune also appeared in four later ballad operas: The Highland fair (1731); Achilles (1733); The Decoy (1733); and The Whim (1734). it is subsequently found in several scottish tune collections. PB’s text would seem to be a version (close) of the scots original behind the english text, which tries to reproduce scots unsuccessfully, as may be seen, e.g., in st. 6. roud 5625. 3. The tailor’s Mistake (p. 8) source unfound; perhaps by PB himself. roud 12566. 4. The Soutter o’ new deer (p. 9) new deer (also mentioned in no. 1 above) is a town about 15 miles west of Peterhead. in stanza 9, after ‘midden head’, four lines seem wanting, if indeed the song is to be in 8–line stanzas. With 1.5–6 cf. no. 34 below, ‘The lasses of Kinghorn’, 1.5–6. roud 12572. 5. The Baker o’ the town o’ ayr (p. 13) The manuscript does not separate into stanzas. This appears to be a genuine scottish version of a seventeenth-century english ballad, on which see W. Bruce Olson’s Broadside Ballad index, A pretty jest i will you tell/ Zn2247| The gelding of the devil/Tune: The gelding of the devil: Or, the card Players/ P4 351: cVWc/ rc2 192: [no imprint]/ Bc1 55, Bc2 128: Wm. Onley. Printed (with expurgation) in rB Viii cii***, at the famous page ebsworth allowed for glueing shut, as the facing page is blank and the same number is on the verso. entd. 29 March 1656. Ai 948. (in the Pepys Ballads, 4.351, black letter, pub. by F. coles et al., on the english Broadside Ballad Archive site.) There is a version in An Antidote Against Melancholy, 1661 (p. 28), which commences ‘now listen a while and i will you tell’. (Also in Merry Drollery, 1661, Merry Drollery complete, 1670, Wit and Drollery, 1682, Wit and Mirth (3rd edn), 1682, and all editions of PPM (1719–20), iii, 147–50, with music – see simpson, 248–250). Farmer, Merry Songs andBallads (1897), iii, 62–65; title ‘The gelding of the devil by dick the Baker of Mansfield Town’. Merry Drollery compleat (1691 edn.; 1875 reprint), pp. 200–204, ‘The gelding of the divel’, begins ‘A story strange i will you tell’. Wehse, p. 451 (no. 409). roud 9312. Motif K241, ‘The castration bargain: wife sent’. Types ATu 153 (‘The gelding of the Bear’) and 1133 (‘Making strong’), version 1. cf. note to no. 38 below. 6. The duke’s daughter (p. 16) note that by comparison with other stanzas, 3.4–5 should repeat 1–2. nB: line 2 of the quasi-refrain is obscure, but might mean something of the order of ‘push and drive her tail too’, which itself is a bit dark; but maybe it means ‘put some order (restraint) on her tail’. roud 12553. 192 cOMMenTAry 7. John edward. (p. 19) Also in his Bl Mss, i, no. 111. roud 12558. The chorus (after st. 8) may be imported from a fragmentary song in greig-Duncan, Vii, 255 (no. 1406), whose chorus runs The ruin o’ me noo ye see, The ruin o’ me noo, gae tell the wearie daddy o’t, My back it winna boo. [bow, bend] in 2.4 bairntime can mean either ‘all the children’ or ‘pregnancy, childbed’; the latter is obviously more likely. in 16.1 the gallowgate is probably the street of that name in Aberdeen, named for its leading to the public gibbet. it is a generic name, there being one in glasgow and another in newcastle. 8. The crab fish (p. 22) in 7.5 ‘for’ is ‘far’, i.e., ‘where’ in north-east dialect. cf. the following near-contemporary text: 1. Our gude wife’s wi’ bairn, and that’s of a lad, And scho’s ta’en a greenin’ for a fish crab. [= longing] With my hey jing, &c. 2. up gat our gude man, and cleekit to his claithes, [clutched] And he’s awa’ to the sea-side, trippin’ on his taes. With my hey, &c. 3. ‘have ye ony crab-fish? — one, two, three’. — ‘Tippence is the price o’ them, gin you and i’ll agree’. With my hey, &c. 4. he pu’d out his purse, and bought the biggest ane, he’s put it in his nicht mutch, and he’s come toddlin hame. With my hey, &c. 5. he wadna pit it on the dresser, for fyling a’ the dishes, [fouling] But he pat it in the chalmer pat, where our gude wife —— [chamber pot; pishes] With my hey, &c. 6. up gat the gude wife, an’ for to mak her dam [= make water] up gat the crab-fish, and took her by the wame. [belly] With my hey, &c. 7. up gat the gude man, to redd the fish’s claws, [disentangle] up gat the crab-fish, and took by the nose. With my hey, &c. cOMMenTAry 193 From c. K. sharpe, A Ballad Book (1823, repr, 1880), pp. 66–67. cKs fastidiously notes ‘This gross old ditty is founded on a story in le Moyen de Parvenir, a book of which the extreme wit is at least equalled by its beastliness’. (The reference is to Béroalde de Verville , le Moyen de Parvenir, ch. 49, ‘Advis’; 1984 edn, facsimile pp. 124–27 (text, 254–60), transcription 147–51.) see the examination of several versions in guthrie T. Meade, Jr., ‘The sea crab’, in Midwest folklore, 8, no. 2 (1958), 91–100, with references to further texts; see also legman, The Horn Book (1964), p. 188, etc. One version not mentioned by either scholar is a conte-en-vers in Thomas hamilton, 6th earl of haddington, Select Poems on Several occasions (c. 1730, edn of 1824), pp. 48–51 (Tale iX), ‘The crab’ (see below). see also cray, The erotic Muse (1969), pp. 2–4 (‘The sea crab’, ‘cod Fish song’), and notes, pp. 237–38, 180 respectively (2nd edn, 1992, pp. 1–4, 5–6). Versions of this are still sung, sometimes expurgated; i heard a teasing public school version sung in england in 1952, thus: 1. good morning, Mr. Fisherman, and how are you? have you a lobster? yes, i have for you. singing rol tol tol, rol tol tol, rol tiddley ol tiddley ol tol tol. 2. he took the lobster home and he couldn’t find a dish, so he put it in the place where the Missus had a wash. * * * * * * * * 4. The lobster gave a wriggle, and the Missus gave a grunt, And there was the lobster hanging on her arm. [etc.] The motif is J2675, ‘Bungling rescuer caught by crab. he tries to rescue woman caught by crab. is caught himself and found in embarrassing position’. cf. K1217, ‘Tale of the basin’, etc. hoffmann gives it a (perhaps) better designation, X726.3.2. see Percy Ms 462, in loose and Humorous Songs (1868), p. 99, ‘The sea crabb’. A somewhat conflated version in richards and stubbs, The english folksinger (1979), p. 142, with tune from sharp. roud 149. The most recent examination is that of roger de V. renwick, in recentering Anglo/ American folksong (2001), pp. 116–50, unfortunately without knowledge of PB’s text or that of hamilton, below. in correspondence he pointed out that, as is common in the crabfish song tradition, the Buchan text does not exactly match any other text, yet every element can be found in one or another of the many known versions. The rarer elements are (1) priest husband; (2) the internal refrain after each line; (3) walking to sea with pike staff; (4) crabfish first encountered on a stone; (5) crab carried home in nightcap (cf. sharpe’s night mutch); (6) husband rises to give crab a clout (cf. the very common attack on the crab with broom, etc. (‘Oh we hit it on the head and we hit it on the side, We hit the fucking lobster till the bastard died’ in a royal navy version); (7) servant in bed laughs at sport. This last element might be the most distinctive one; renwick notes that while exposure to others – neighbours (as in Percy’s text), extended family members, strangers – is found worldwide in the tale tradition, servant exposure – bringing in a class aspect? – is found only in France, perhaps; while very common in America is exposure to the children – who like Buchan’s servant girl, explicitly laugh at the event. 194 cOMMenTAry From Select Poems on Several occasions, by the right Hon. The earl of Harrington [sic], to which is added, The Duke of Argyll’s levee, and Some Ballads, by the late lord Binning (london: printed in 1824), preface signed ‘hamilton’. tale Ix The crab There stands a town ’twixt Wemyss and leven Well known in Fife, and call’d Buckhaven, For fishers fam’d, these hardy fellows, Tho’ eolus blow all his bellows, yet go to sea, and never care 5 Whether the wind be foul or fair: Their trade is fish, they sell the best, Their wives and brats eat up the rest: And tho’ they feed on nought but fish, They give new names to every dish: 10 nay, tho’ ridiculous, ne’er care, For haddocks are call’d capons there; And what to strangers give surprise, They calls the crabs Buckhaven pies; And these they have in so great plenty, 15 That for a penny, they’ll sell twenty. not long ago their parson died, But soon they got their church supplied, By one who always did maintain That there was godliness in gain; 20 What in the next world might betide he knew not, but he would provide A treasure, in this present life; To this agreed his thrifty wife, Who every day provided fish 25 not only as the cheapest dish, But that she knew they would inspire Mass Thomas’ blood with warm desire; And sure there could be no offence in loving due benevolence. 30 Thus they went on in great content, And kept a cheap luxurious lent; Their wealth each day increas’d — their nights Were past in conjugal delights, And Master Thomas and his wife, 35 Alike admir’d the happy life. But ah! how transient are our joys! Old satan oft our bliss destroys, cOMMenTAry 195 And is offended, out of measure, When he can’t sour our peace and pleasure: 40 ungrateful satan, how couldst thou Thy malice to this couple shew? did e’er Mass Thomas, or his wife, do wrong to thee in all thy life, did he in act, or in opinion, 45 disturb the peace of thy dominion? no, he was quiet, honest, civil, And thought it sin to cheat the devil; yet thou a cursed trick didst play, And the well-meaning pair betray. 50 i’ve told that fish was all their food, But still they have them fresh and good; six crabs they on a day had got, And put four of them in the pot, The other two till night they kept, 55 Who through the house at freedom crept; But one of them, opprest with thirst, crawl’d to the tub where Madam piss’d, And with the saltness pleas’d, did stay until the shutting in of day. 60 ’Twas winter time, the days were short, Mass Thomas in his chair did snort, As was his custom, while his spouse Went like a bee about the house; For she, of housewives far the best, 65 From morn to night would never rest, But turn’d her hand to every thing, That could a penny save or bring. Two maids she had, the one was spinning, The other one was dressing linen; 70 so seeing nothing was amiss, she to the jurden went to piss. [pisspot] The crab, who thought on no such matter, Astonish’d with the scalding water, Thrust out her claw, i do not joke ye, 75 And took fast hold of her tu quoque. in dreadful pain and great surprise, Poor Madam fill’d the house with cries, her husband wak’d, and to her came, And kindly ask’d what ail’d the dame. 80 ‘Alas!’ she cry’d, ‘My dear, i’ll tell ye. ‘The dev’l has got me by the belly: ‘O help me, husband! help!’ she cry’d. Mean time she all her clothes unty’d; 196 cOMMenTAry For haste her milk-white smock she tore, 85 And threw off every rag she wore. Mass Thomas, when he saw her grief, Assuring her of quick relief, Kneel’d down, in hopes to ease the fair, 90 But crab, who had of claws a pair, his pious purpose did oppose, And snapped the parson by the nose. Mass Thomas now to roar began, she call’d her maids, he call’d his man, 100 Who running to them with a light, Were quite confounded with the sight; The parson’s wife without her clothes, And at her —— her husband’s nose. Where long enough it might have staid, 105 But nan, a clever handy maid, depriv’d the wicked crab of life, And so reliev’d both man and wife; Who much offended with the pain, swore ne’er to taste shell fish again. 110 in the above, line 76’s tu quoque is of course an eighteenth-century whimsicality for the pudendum muliebre. grose (class. Dict., p. 354) defines it sardonically as ‘The mother of all saints’, and Partridge (Dict. of Slang (1961), p. 913) derives it plausibly as a perverted form of twat. The omitted obscenity in line 104 should be cunt, ordinarily omitted in the sources or at most only initialled, as in 8.5 of PB’s version. That hamilton’s poem and Buchan’s song are the only two versions with the maidservant witness is very suggestive. One may notice the influence of the Moyen de Parvenir text on the two elite redactors (haddington and charles churchill); those are the only three tellings of the tale in which the guilty crab has escaped from some other holding pen and made its own way into the chamberpot. 9. The wanton trooper (p. 24) to get (a) fley in 7.4 etc. literally means ‘to get a fright’, hence ‘to decrease in amount or intensity [. . .] , to get the worse for wear’ (SnD). As for the tune, the phrase ‘gin ye had been where i hae been’ suggests the tune of the song in which that line occurs, namely Killiecrankie . This (titled ‘gin ye had been where i hae been’) is in Buchan’s Bl Mss, i, no. 90; Walker, Peter Buchan and other Papers, p. 178. cf. the following: The Miller’s Daughter 1. The lang man went o’er the lee, green leaves is green O, he said he’d give his half year’s fee To let him ly between twa. cOMMenTAry 197 2. The miller’s daughter lang and tough, green leaves is green O, she said she’d gie him wark enough And lay him ay between twa. 3. The first night he with her lay green leaves is green O, he turn’d to her nine times ere day, And she lay him ay between twa. 4. The second night he with her lay, green leaves is green O, he turn’d to her seven times ere day, And she lay him ay between twa. 5. The third night he with her lay, green leaves is green O, he turn’d to her five times ere day, And she lay him ay between twa. 6. The fourth night he with her lay, green leaves is green O, he turn’d to her three times ere day, And she lay him ay between twa. 7. The fifth night he with her lay, green leaves is green O, he turn’d to her no times ere day, And she bade him come between twa. 8. — i thought the mill it was the kirk, green leaves is green O, i thought the sacks it was the fouk, i had lain so lang between twa. 9. i thought the clap it was the bell, green leaves is green O, i thought the happer little hell, i had lain so lang between twa. 10. As i went o’er my father’s lee, green leaves is green O, i thought my head was turn’d a-jee, i had lain so lang between twa. 11. As i went up my father’s craft, green leaves is green O, 198 cOMMenTAry The winnle straes they did me fank, [entangle] i had lain so lang between twa. 12. As i went burt my father’s group, [i.e., but] green leaves is green O, i bad farewell to that bull stirk, [bullock] Because he’s lying between twa.— 13. some cry’d for meat, some cry’d for drink, green leaves is green O, But his mother brought him the winding sheet, he had lain so lang between twa. From e. B. lyle (ed.), Andrew crawfurd’s collection of Ballads and Songs, 2 vols (1996), ii, 194–95 (Appendix), from a chapbook (nat. lib. sc. l.c. 2899); to compare with Ac’s text (no. 140, collected by Andrew sloan at Kilbirnie) of a 3–verse fragment, ‘lying Atwein Twa’, consisting of the equivalents of sts 10 and 12 above, with the same burden, and st. 3, which is the third of PB’s version. roud 12567. 10. dainty davie (p. 26) ‘well’s me’ is ‘well is me’, i.e., ‘i take pleasure in’. i suspect this is from the pen of Buchan himself, using phrases common in ‘real’ folk verse (7.1, 9.1, 11.3. etc.). This is printed as traditional in hamish henderson’s article ‘The Ballad, the Folk and the Oral Tradition’ in cowan, The People’s Past (1980), pp. 85–86. There are several other versions, primarily: (A) that in herd 1776, ii.215; Hecht Herd MSS, 140. (The variations between Ms and print are minimal – 3 sts + chorus – song begins ‘it was in and through the window broads’, chorus ‘O leeze me on your curly pow,/ dainty davie, dainty davie’ etc.). This is the earliest known version, but cf. B, which may in many respects antedate it. The song is founded on a scurrilous anecdote relayed by Burns (cook, Annotation, p. 12): This song, tradition says, and the composition itself confirms it, was composed on the rev. david Williamson’s begetting the daughter of lady cherrytrees with child, while a party of dragoons were searching her house to apprehend him for being an adherent to the solemn league and covenant. The pious woman had put a lady’s night-cap on him, and had laid him a-bed with her own daughter, and passed him to the soldiery as a lady, her daughter’s bed-fellow. The primary source for this is a passage in Scotch Presbyterian eloquence (1692, frequently reprinted), by ‘Jacob curate’, which holds the covenanter clergymen up to ridicule, giving samples of their outrageous sermons and so forth (edn of 1790, 12–13). This slander was made to measure, of course. see also Maidment, A Book of Scotish Pasquils (1868), pp. xi–xii, and his Packet of Pestilent Pasquils (1868). The tune seems to be at least as old as the original anecdote, i.e., certainly of covenanting times. it first appears in Playford’s Dancing Master, 10th edn, 1698; later in Pills (1719), i, 42 (as ‘a pretty scotch tune’), without title, in Margaret sinkler’s Ms Music Book, 1710; as Dainty Davy in Mitchell’s Highland fair cOMMenTAry 199 (1731), p. 60; and as Dainty Davie in Mcgibbon’s Scots tunes (1746), p. 32 (whence dick, Songs, p. 289 (no. 308), and Kinsley’s set, p. 320 (no. 140), to Burns’s ‘There was a lad’); Oswald, caledonian Pocket companion (1753), V, 22, and of course SMM (1787), no. 34, with ramsay’s ‘lucky nancy’ (‘While fops in saft italian verse’). As for the historical truth, david Williamson may have acquired his soubriquet from the tune, and not vice versa. see dick, Songs, p. 474; henley and henderson, centenary edition, ii, 312; davidson cook, Annotations, p. 12. see also hecht’s note, p. 297. Williamson married his seventh wife, Mrs Jean straiton, on 20 May 1700; he died 6 August 1706. (B) 4 sts + cho. in MMc (1799), pp. 67–68 (also in Farmer, MSB, iii, 283–84). 1.1 ‘Being pursu’d by the dragoons’, cho. ‘O leeze me on his curly pow, / Bonnie davie, dainty davie;’ etc. The cunningham (gracie) Ms contains an additional stanza between sts 3 & 4: ‘he laid my back against a stane/ An’ mony a thump he gae my wame/ An’ weel i wot he ca’d it hame/ For he was my dainty davie’. (cf. version c.) hecht, Archiv, quoted in MMc (1959, 1964 edn), n. 99, argues that B is Burns’ revision of herd’s text: ‘herd’s first verse is missing in MMc. The third is enlarged to two verses which for reasons of graduation and development of the episode are transferred to the beginning of the poem. The rhyme ‘gravy’ instead of herd’s regularly repeated ‘davie’ may be taken as an indication that the verse was not in the original version. noteworthy also is the desire to make clearer the allusion to the proper name cherrytrees (also in the third verse) which is hardly recognizable in herd’s version. The fourth verse with strong beginning of lines 1 and 2 is missing in herd. The comparison makes it clear that the version of dainty davie in MMc was derived from the version given by herd with express artistic intentions. There is no doubt whatever that Burns himself was the author of these changes. This supports our conjecture that even in the cases in which we have no other versions apart from those in MMc the gist of the song may be old but very frequently it underwent the poet’s encroachment to heighten the artistic effect’. however cogent this argument may be, note that Burns himself, in his note on the song partly quoted above, seems to say that this version is older than herd: A mutilated stanza or two are to be found in herd’s collection, but [n.b.] the song consists of five or six stanzas, and has merit in its way. The first stanza is: Being pursued by the dragoons, Within my bed he was laid down; And weel i wat he was worth his room, For he was my daintie davie. ramsay’s song, ‘luckie nansie’, though he calls it an old song with additions, seems to be all his own, except the chorus: i was ay telling you, luckie nansie, luckie nansie, Auld springs wad ding the new, But ye wad never trow me— which i should conjecture to be part of a song prior [n.b.] to the affair of Williamson. 200 cOMMenTAry (davidson cook, Annotations, p. 12.) Which parts of this are old is debatable. (c) forbidden fruit (?1895), p. 38, 5 sts (no chorus); 1st is ‘davie took me to the door, / And he cleaned out my water bore, / i never pissed so well before, / you’re aye my dainty davie’. This seems to be a series of variations on the additional stanza in the cunningham Ms. (d) Merry Muses (‘1827’), pp. 29–31; (1827a), pp. 27–28. in the ‘1830’ edn; not in 1825 and its 1884 reprint. 6 x 8 lines, no chorus; begins ‘A loving couple met one day, / Kate and davy, dainty davy’. This version may be a further expansion of c (different places for intercourse, etc.), and is manifestly english as opposed to scots. roud 2387 (which does not differentiate the versions in herd, ttM, and Burns). 11. The weaver and his Shuttle (p. 29) On the metaphor, cf. ‘The Bob o’ dumblane’, ‘let me in this ae night’ (see no. 41 below, ‘Will ye lend me your loom, lass?’). One related stanza in lyle, crawfurd MSS (1996), ii , 152 (no. 196), i.e., ‘On the banks o’ brume, i set my loom / Where primrose grows sae yellow ; / i met a prettie fair maid, / her name was sarah McKellie’. (cf. sts 1 & 5 above.) Also cf. ‘sarah Kelly’ in greig-Duncan, Vii, 114 (no. 1330, one st. with music). roud 7218. The tune is a variant of Jockie’s gray Breeks; Burns says (note on this air, in cromek (reliques, p. 205) and davidson cook, p. 8): ‘Though this has certainly every evidence of being a scottish air, yet there is a well-known tune and song in the north of ireland, call’d “The weaver and his shuttle, O”, which though sung much quicker, is, every note, the very tune’. Buchan’s song would seem to be the one mentioned; it will be noticed that there are some hibernian touches to it. Burns directed his ‘My father was a farmer’ to be sung to this air, whose scottish version is the tune for Burns’ ‘Again rejoicing nature sees’ (see in dick, Songs, p. 68, no. 67, and Kinsley, p. 313, no. 138), and appears in SMM (1787), i, 28 , no. 27, to ‘now smiling spring again appears’ (damned as ‘execrable’ by the Bard), and Mayne’s ‘Jenny’s heart was frank and free’, which is much better. The original words of ‘Johnny’s gray breeks’ are given by herd (edn hecht, 1904), p. 184, and from the Ms by dick, p. 375), a fragment of 8 lines beginning ‘i’ll hae Johnny’s gray breeks’, and by stenhouse (illus., 27), 4 stanzas, beginning ‘When i was in my se’enteenth year’, bearing no relation to herd; though the prudish editor adds that he has ‘seen two additional stanzas to the song, but they appear to be the production of a different and very inferior pen; they are likewise coarse, and inadmissible on the score of delicacy’. As Jocky’s gray Breeches the tune is in Oswald’s coll. of curious Scots tunes (1742), ii, 6, in 3/4 time, followed by a common-time version labelled ‘Brisk’. glen, eSM, p. 67, cannot decide ‘whether there were two sets current at this time, or whether Oswald constructed the one tune from the other’. see greig-Duncan, Vii, 20 (no. 1279), 8 versions. to the tune of The rose tree; the g version more or less = herd; e = stenhouse, and some further stanzas, conceivably those that gave offence to stenhouse, e.g. ‘When the lad was in his prime, like him there was not many O, he could do it at any time, And who was like my Johnny O?’ cf. also there, no. 1280. 12. The haggis o’ dunbar (p. 31) Also in Buchan’s Bl Mss, no. 114. The above has been separated into stanzas. cf. the following versions, particularly the second: cOMMenTAry 201 A. There was a haggis in dunbar, Andrew-linkum feedel; Mony better, few waur, Andrew-linkum feedel. B. hey, the haggis o’ dunbar, Fatharalinkum Feedle; Mony better, few waur, Fatharalinkum Feedle. For to mak this haggis nice, Fatharalinkum, &c. They pat in a peck o’ lice, Fatharalinkum, &c. For to mak this haggis fat, Fatharalinkum, &c. They pat in a scabbit cat, Fatharalinkum Feedle. c. There wis a haggis in dunbar, heathery, sinkum, feedel, Mony better, few waur; hey, dey, tand dee reedle. chappet cheese an’ chuckenwort, heathery rinkum feedel, soo’s snoots an’ muggerwort, hey, dey, tan dee reedle. ye may get a bit o’ it, gin that ye be civil. (A) chambers, Popular rhymes of Scotland (1847), p. 78; (1870 edn), p. 290; cheviot Proverbs (1896), p. 354. (B)sharpe, A Ballad Book (1823), p. 69, no. 26. On the contents, cf. some favourite verses of the newcastle bard Blind Willie Purvis (1752–1832) here quoted from Allan’s tyneside Songs (1891), p. 57: For to make the haggish nishe They put in some brown spishe. Tarum tickle, tan dum, To the tune o’ tan dum, Tarum tickle, tan dum. And to make the haggish fine They put in a bottle of wine. 202 cOMMenTAry Tarum tickle, tan dum, To the tune o’ tan dum, Tarum tickle, tarum tickle tan dum. (c), SnQ, iV, 5 (Oct. 1890), 95, from Aberdeenshire. The first lines are quoted in scott’s Bride of lammermoor (1819), chap. 18. The tune is in stewart-robertson, Athole collection (1884), p. 154 (A). roud 6477. 13. The Merry Merchant (p. 32) A rather incoherent story. Drum in the last stanza is the place-name, ten miles west of Aberdeen; hence ‘the laird of drum’. The tune, from the chorus, would appear to be that of ‘The Breist Knots’: see in SMM (1790), iii, 222 (no. 214), whose chorus begins ‘hey the bonny, hey the bonny, O the bonny breast knots’; the words are by Alex. ross; the tune appears as The lady’s Breast Knot in Bremner’s collection of Scots reels or country Dances (1758), p. 31; glen, eSM, p. 131, says it is now sung to a different air, introduced (and perhaps written) by John sinclair, the vocalist, in 1826. Buchan’s tune would, however, be the old SMM version. roud 12561. 14. Slow willie Stenson (p. 33) cf. the following: 1. There dwelt a man in lanrickshire, ha! Willie steenson, And all his care and hail desyre Was prettie Peggie Beenston. 2. he courted her fra barn to byre, ha! Willie steenson, But he could ne’er get his desyre Of prettie Peggie Beenston. 3. O Peggy, quoth he, i’d lay thee doun, ha! Willie steenson, if ’t were not for spoiling of thy new goun, My prettie Peggie Beenston. 4. My new goun cost thee ne’er a groat, ha! Willie steenson; sae lay me doun and spare it not, says prettie Peggie Beenston. 5. But Willie ran hame to fetch the cloak, ha! Willie steenson, And by came another and play’d the sport, With prettie Peggie Beenston. cOMMenTAry 203 6. i wish my cloak had been in the fyre, ha! Willie steenson, That ever another got my desyre Of prettie Peggie Beenston. This is from Maidment, Ane Pleasant garland of Sweet Scented flowers (1835), pp. 6–7; repr. in Farmer, Merry Songs and Ballads, i, 277–78, not quite literally. see simpson, BBBM, p. 580 (‘Pretty Peggy Benson’) and references. ‘Tin’d’ above seems to be from tin(e), a tub or vat; so probably means to put the ale in storage. Another version, kindly supplied by W. B. Olson: Pretty Peggy Benson 1. There lived not far from our town slow Willie stenson And he would fain a plaid the loon with pretty Peggy Benson. 2. it happen’d on a summers’ day That slow Willie stenson As he was abroad a cocking of hay With pretty Peggy Benson. 3. ‘My dear, i fain would lay thee down’, says slow Willie stenson ‘But i fear i shall spoil your holyday gown, My pretty Peggy Benson’. 4. ‘Then lay me down, and spare me not, Thou slow Willie stenson. My holyday gown cost thee not a groat’ says pretty Peggy Benson. 5. ‘i’ll straight step home and fetch my cloak’ says slow Willie senson. Meantime came another and plaid the joke With pretty Peggy Benson. 6. ‘i wish my cloak had been in the fire’ says slow Willie stenson ‘e’er i had lost my heart’s desire, in pretty Peggy Benson’. 7. ‘Then come again some another day, Thou slow Willie stenson i’ll skim off the curd and give thee the whey’, says pretty Peggy Benson. 204 cOMMenTAry Text above from The encyclopedia of comic Songs (london, 1819). There are many other copies dating from ‘Opportunity lost’ of the seventeenth century. (reprinted in leslie shepard’s The History of Street literature (1973), p. 160; Wehse, p. 269, no. 24.) Two single sheet editions with music appeared in the eighteenth century. roud 12565. 15. The dusty wife’s daughter (p. 36) in 6.1 to ‘session’ is ‘to call (a betrothed couple) before the Kirk session (the first court in the Presbyterian church) in order to record their intention to marry’ (SnD). roud 12540. 16. row’d a’ together (p. 39) re: ‘the ale’, etc. in 5.1–2: cf. stanza 8 of ‘As i went out ae may morning’, Burns’ version of a traditional song (Kinsley, ii, 653–54, from the hastie Ms (f. 109), collated with SMM, 1792, no. 397): O as ye maut, so maun ye brew, And as ye brew, so maun ye tun; But come to my arms, my ae bonie lass, For ye never shall rue what ye now hae done!— This is an old proverbial saying: 1641 Fergusson, no. 593, ‘let him drink as he hes browin’. 1721 Kelly, p. 186, ‘if you brew well, you’ll drink the better’ – cf. ‘if you have browen wel, you shal drinke the better’ (Wodroephe’s Spared Houres of a Souldier in his travels, 1623). see ox. Dict. of eng. Proverbs, p. 85, citing M. P. Tilley, A Dictionary of the Proverbs of england (1950), B654, ‘As they brew so let them bake (drink)’. c. 1300 cursor Mundi 2848 ‘suilk als thai brued now ha thai dronken’; cf. Tilley B 52, ‘As you bake so shall you brew (eat)’. 1st ref. 1548. roud 12574. 17. clout the caudron (original way) (p. 41) in 3.5 Buchan should have another syllable: ‘her’ (as inserted) or ‘the’, perhaps. in 5.2 dree means ‘endure, last out, continue’ (snd), as in The laird o’ logie (16.1–2) in Motherwell’s Minstrelsy (1827), p. 59, ‘carmichael’s awa to Margaret’s bower, / e’en as fast as he may drie’. cf. the old broadside ‘room for a Jovial Tinker: Old Brass to Mend’ (Farmer, MSB, i, 41; and another later version, from Merry Drollery (1661), i, 142, Pinto and rodway, common Muse (1957), p. 279.) see also versions of its obscene descendant, ‘The highland Tinker’, in common Muse, p. 438; cray, erotic Muse (1969), pp. 9–11 (good comparative notes, pp. 248–51); (1992 edn), pp. 29–36 (whence silverman, The Dirty Song Book (1982), p. 164); and legman’s comments in Horn Book (1964), pp. 226–27. Buchan’s text in roth, p. 344 (e 1, ‘The gentleman Turned Tinker’); see the notes, p. 75, pp. 346–47. Wehse, p. 383 (no. 273), ‘room for a Jovial Tinker’. The expurgated version is in ttM, orpheus caledonius, etc. roud 8563. 18. hittum, tittum (p. 46) in 12.3 ‘get cow the orratie’ seems to mean ‘get a scolding’ (see SnD, which says the origin is doubtful). The above is an early version of ‘she Was a rum One’, noted from davie cOMMenTAry 205 stewart, dundee, in Kennedy folksongs of Britain and ireland, p. 421, no. 190; see his note, p. 437. included on the album Songs of Seduction (caedmon 1961; rounder 2000), sung by Jeannie robertson, also recorded by ewan Maccoll and Peggy seeger on Folkways FW08759, Bothy Ballads of Scotland. roud 12555 (mistakenly titled ‘Flittum Tittum’), and 2128. 19. The landry Maiden (p. 49) in 15.1 we should read ‘now blythe may she be’. see greig-Duncan, i, 115 (no. 53), ‘The noble duke of gordon’, 14 versions, mostly to the tune of ‘The Bonnie lass o Fyvie’; roud 5807. 20. kist yestreen (p. 52) The original (or an expurgation) is in herd (1776), ii, 226, ‘Kist the streen’, subtitled ‘On the late duke of Argyle’; 3 quatrains, beginning ‘O as i was kist yestreen!’; with the music in SMM (1792), iV, 330 (no. 319). The tune is printed first in Oswald, cPc (1753), V, 5; glen thinks from its construction it was originally a bagpipe tune. it appears in the drummond castle Ms (1734) as Kiss’d Yestreven; and turns up in Bremner (p. 75) and elsewhere. roud 8538. 21. Johnny McBey (p. 53) in 2.1 the ‘tag’ is the penis, meaning a length of flesh or muscle. cf. the use of the word in the humorous song ‘Wanton Willie’ (see the introduction above, n. 15). ‘Waddle’ in 2.4, 4.4 is eng. wattle, rod, twig (cf. SnD s.v.), i.e., ‘penis’. 1.1 and 2.2 must refer to a local notable of phallic fame; but one or the other has to be wrong and reflect a mishearing. Perhaps each should read ‘Mumphrey (as in ‘humphrey’) o’ Millan’? roud 12577. 22. The lancashire farmer (p. 55) in 8.1 ‘dall’ is ‘daw’ (the bird), hence ‘penis’. 13.4 ‘nutmegs’ are ‘testicles’ (cf. modern ‘nuts’). The conclusion of 15 should not repeat that of 14. Buchan’s text in roth, ehebruchschwänke in liedform (1977), pp. 378–79, with the 1st and last (12th) stanzas of a broadside of c. 1688–95 (roth’s no. e 23, ‘The lancashire cuckold ’), ‘to the tune of, Fond Boy, &c’. – see simpson’s BBBM, pp. 223–24 on this tune (ex. 143), from Thesaurus Musicus Book, 1 (1693), credited to Thomas Tollet (song and air in PPM (1719–20), Vi, 113). (in Pepys, 4, 145.) see also roth’s notes, pp. 91–92, which among other things point out the motif of the pisspot, connecting with ‘The crab-Fish’, the motif being d1413.8 (cf. d1171.13); also d2171.5, ‘Persons magically stick together’, and cf. K1217, ‘Tale of the basin’; tale type ATu 571 B (‘lover exposed’). The hiding in the tree has no function in the present text, but is paralleled in other stories (cf. motif K1971 et seq.). Wehse, p. 417 (no. 340, ‘The lancashire cuckold’). roud 12539. 23. The horned Millar (p. 57) cf. a broadside copy (c. 1820) in logan, Pedlar’s Pack, p. 388 (‘The canny Miller and his Wife’); repr. in roth, pp. 358–59 (no. e 10), with notes, pp. 81–82. he also notes other 206 cOMMenTAry versions in holloway-Black, later British Broadside Ballads (1975), p. 111, and (in his appendix, p. 489) in the greig-Duncan collection, with the tune of ‘Turpin hero’, as the refrain might suggest (g-d, Vii 319–21, no. 1459: ‘O Poor Man the Miller’, ‘The Miller’, ‘cowie’s Miller’). Also with tune in christie, traditional Ballad Airs, ii, 4–5, 293. The tale type is ATu 1419g, ‘The clergyman’s Breeches’. Wehse, p. 392 (no. 292); roud 7152. An analogous tale, a different song of a cuckold’s switch of breeches, is ‘The deptford Frolic’ (Zn2185 in Olson’s list), and the folksong ‘The Major and the Weaver’, laws Q10 (roth, no. e 9). The district of canonmills, which may be meant, lies on the northern edge of edinburgh’s new Town, about 3/4 mile to the north of Princes street. 24. The cuckold (p. 61) Printed in roth, pp. 433–34 (no. e 57, ‘The unfortunate Miller’). see his refs., p. 434, and notes, pp. 116–17. ATu 1441 ‘Old Woman substitute’, 1379, ‘Wife deceives husband with substituted Bedmate’; motifs K1544, K1843.2.3, K1223.2/3, K1317.1. in st. 10, ‘multure’ the toll for grinding, generally a share of the grain. hence, ‘mill and multure free’ means ‘at no cost’. (The phrase occurs also in the song ‘The Maid gaed to the Mill’, SMM, V, 494 (no. 481), greig-Duncan, Vii, 299–300, no. 1436 ‘The Miller and the Maid’. Wehse, p. 389 (no. 284), ref. to Baskerville, elizabethan Jig (1929), p. 277.). Wehse, p. 400 (no. 311). roud 7283. WBO: This is a slight reworking of ‘A cuckold by consent’, entered in the stationers register on 16 January 1640.(Pepys, iV, 124.). Other reworkings of the story are the later broadsides Zn125 and Zn3113 (in Olson’s list). herewith Olson’s transcription of the ballad cited: A cuckold by consent; or, The Frollick Miller that intic’d a Maid, As he did think, to lodge in his lawless bed; But she decieved him of his intent, And in her room his Wife to be she sent. The tune is, The Beds making 1. Friends will it please you to hear me tell Of a merry jest that late befell, By as good a Miller as ever laid stone, yet was not contented with his own. But he was deceived in the dark, And took his own for anothers mark. 2. upon a time it chanced so, A proper maid to the mill did go, To grind her father a batch of corn, The miller’s heart with her did burn yet he, &c. 3. And to obtain his purpose right, he caused the maid to stay all night, cOMMenTAry 207 And said it would be almost morn, Before that he could grin’d her corn: yet he, &c. 4. so when the day was done and spent, home to his house the miller went; he took the maid with him along, To whom he thus did use his tongue. But he, &c. 5. sweet-heart, quothe he, i tell thee now, That i have made a secret vow, That i this night must lie with thee, And thou shalt have thy grist Tole-free. [toll, fee] But he, &c. 6. At home i have a secret room, Where none but my chief guests do come, Thy lodging there alone shall be, And i will come to bed to thee. yet he, &c. 7. sweet soul i prithee be content, With maidens silence gives consent, it is no purpose to say no, For i have sworn it shall be so, yet he, &c. 8. Then to his wife the miller said, i may make much of this same maid, And lodge her in the parlor below, For she is a good mans child i know: But he was deceived in the dark, And took his own for anothers mark. 9. so to the mill again he went, But to return was his intent, For to perform what he had swore, unto this maid not long before: yet he, &c. 10. Then shortly after he was gone, unto his wife the maid made known: Quothe she, your husband hath this night, sworn to deprive you of your right: so he, &c. 208 cOMMenTAry 11. unto your lodging let me go, And lye you in the room below; if in the parlor bed you be, he’l lye with you and think ’tis me. so he, &c. 12. his wife considering of the thing, To her own bed the maid did bring, And for to have the thing you know, she laid her self in the room below: But he, &c. 13. Then towards the mid-time of the night, The miller came to the chamber right, his promise which he made, to keep, And he thought he found the maid asleep: But he, &c. 14. For joy the miller nothing said But off with his cloaths and into bed: And coulours in the dark being like, he at his work did briefly did strike: [change first ‘did’ to ‘then’?] yet he, &c. 15. his wife speaks not a word at all, But took all kindly that did fall, And that did prove so good a part, she thankt the maid with all her heart: But he, &c. 16. The miller out of bed again, And to the mill he went amain; But in his mind he was almost wild, For fear he had got the maid with child; yet he, &c. 17. he did devise to cause the mother, To father the bantling on another, And pausing on the thing awhile, his man he thought for to beguile: But he, &c. 18. With that he casts his wits about, To work the project past all doubt, Then (with all wisdome on this wise) he told his man of a dainty page But he, &c. cOMMenTAry 209 19. Jack, quoth the Miller, by the mass, ile tell the of a curious lass, With a cherry-cheek and dainty chin, With snow white brests and a silken-skin But he, &c. 20. With nut-brown hair, and a fore-head high, With ruby lips and a pleasant eye, With a pretty lisping, prating tongue, soft hands and fingers small and long: But he, &c. 21. With a slender middle and a body straight, Both back and belly proportion’d right, With an handsome leg and a dainty foot, And a finer thing if thou canst come to’t. But he, &c. 22. now Jack if thou wilt credit me, A sweeter wench thou ne’r didst see, What wilt thou give me for my good will; And thou shalt have belly bait thy fill? But he, &c. 23. it is so, qd. the miller: then quothe his man good master do the best you can. go bring it about, and for the same, i’ls give unto you my old ram: But he, &c. 24. A match qd. the miller: the ram is mine, And the wench she shall be thine, And so the miller like an ass, sent him to his wife instead of the lass: so he, &c. 25. When Jack did come where she did lye, into bed then Jack did hye; you know so well i need not name, What Jack would do unto his dame: But he, &c. 26. When Jack had finished up his game, unto the miller he went amain, he thankt his master, and to him swore, That he had never such sport before. But he, &c. 210 cOMMenTAry 27. Betimes i’th morning the maid arose, And to the miller straight she goes, her horse she ready sadled found, Besides her corn was tole-free ground. But he, &c. 28. The miller then disir’d the maid, That she would remember the parlor bed, Quoth she good sir you are deceiv’d, you kist your wife all in my stead: And you, &c. 29. Alas, quothe the miller, what shall i do, For then our Jack hath been there too, And for this trick a vow i make, i’le never trust maiden for thy sake, But he was deceived in the dark, And took his own for anothers mark. This tale is told of a knight from Burgundy in love with one of his wife’s chambermaids in the ninth tale in les cent nouvelles nouvelles (‘le mari maquereau de sa femme’) (tr. r. h. robbins, 1960, as The Hundred tales; robbins cites many continental versions, both earlier and later, in his notes, but no english versions). see also The one Hundred new tales, tr. diner (1990), pp. 47–49, and previously tr. robert B. douglas, 1899. A thirteenth century version is a fabliau in Montaiglon and reynaud ii, 231, ‘le Meunier d’Arlieux’. late in the seventeenth century the same tale is retold in ‘The unfortunate miller’ (Bagford Ballads, ii, 530, and common Muse, no. 222) and also as ‘The Wanton Vintner, and subtile damosel’ (roxburghe Ballads Viii, 479). Other european examples include ‘An english dyer who had an Adventure with his Wife’, in Poggio Bracciolini, (1928), no. 116, and Marguerite de navarre’s eighth tale, ‘Bornet, ne gardant telle loyauté à sa femme qu’elle à luy, eut envie de coucher avec sa chambrière (etc.)’, in Marguérite de navarre, l’Heptaméron, ed. by Michel François (Paris: garnier, 1943), pp. 43–47. The same plot occurs in an Amerindian (Brule sioux) tale, ‘iktome sleeps with his Wife by Mistake’, in erdoes and Ortiz (1984), pp. 372–74. WBO adds, on the tune The Bed Making: The tune is not in c. M simpson’s The British Broadside Ballad and its Music, but we can come up with one, which may even be the correct one. A ballad entered in June of 1629 is ‘A Woman’s Work is never done’ and was to ‘To a delicate northern Tune, A Woman’s work is never done, or, The Beds making’. i suspect, here, the first part of the tune direction ‘A Woman’s work is never done’ is a mere attempt to change the name of ‘The Beds making’ to that of the song. This was a good advertising practice, which often, but not always, succeeded. (see however simpson, p. 189, ‘The doubting Virgin’.) A northern tune ‘Woman’s work is never done’ is in the scottish Blaikie and leyden Mss of the late seventeenth century, and both copies have been published. The Blaikie Ms copy is given by John glen in early Scottish Melodies, p. 59, and the leyden Ms copy in Wooldridge’s edition of chappell, old english Popular Music, ii, 152. except for key, these cOMMenTAry 211 are almost identical. (There are slurs in the leyden Ms copy that are not in that from the Blaikie Ms, and these aid in fitting our song to the tune.) This tune was later known in scotland as The Black eagle or The Bonny Black eagle. (The above texts are printed with tunes in B. c. folklore [Journal of the British columbia Folklore society], 18 [October 2003], 37–43.) Four versions are in greig-Duncan, Vii, 314–318, no. 1458: ‘The Jolly Miller’ and ‘The Miller, or grinding her corn’, two with tune. cf. no. 29 below. 25. Johnny cowper (p. 64) in roth, pp. 376–77 (under no. e 22, ‘The cooper of norfolk’); see his notes, pp. 90–91. Wehse, p. 412 (no. 330). W. B. Olson notes: ‘The cooper of norfolk’ is by Martin Parker, but is a reworking of a sixteenth-century ballad, ‘A merry new song how a Bruer meant to make a cooper cuckold, and how deere the Bruer paid for the bargaine’, in A collection of Seventy-nine Black letter Ballads and Broadsides (1869, 1870, edn by J. O. halliwell), p. 60. The tune is in Somer time (see simpson BBBM, pp. 373–5). it is ‘calino custurame’ from the opening ‘in summer time when Phoebus rays, did cheer each mortal man’s delight’, entered by first line in 1624. under the ‘in summertime’ title, the tune was used for at least 25 broadside ballads by 1693, but there were two other later tunes of this title for songs in different metre. The tale version is ‘les cornes marchandes’ (‘A Bargain in horns’, no. 43 in The Hundred tales; tr. douglas, 1899, and ed. robbins, 1960, whose notes point out at least 3 later continental versions.) The first of 12 verses of the ‘cooper’ ballad goes: if that you list, now merry be, lend listening eares a while to me, To heare a song of a Bruer bold, That meant a cooper to cuckold. roud 7357. Other versions: ‘The cooper of norfolk; or, A Pretty Jest of a Brewer and the cooper’s Wife’ to the tune The Wiving Age (begins ‘Attend my masters and listen well’) – broadside, in euing Ballads, pp. 60–61; Pepys, i, 400–401 (the tune takes its name from a Martin Parker ballad – see simpson, p. 770), also in roxburghe Ballads, i, 99; ‘cuckold the cooper’ (‘com all you god peopel a story ill tell’), harker, Songs from the Manuscript collection of John Bell (1985), pp. 339–341 (no. 223); and four versions in greig-Duncan, Vii, 290–293, no. 1433, viz. (a) ‘Johnnie cooper’ (‘early one morning John cooper got up’); (b) ‘Johnny cooper’ (‘’Twas early one morning when Johnny rose up’); (c) ‘she’s Made a rich Man o’ John cooper’ (‘Weel is my aul’ wife an’ weel may she be’), one st. only, as last one above; these 3 with tunes; (d) ‘John cooper’ (‘O dear me, but it is big’), 2 sts only. 26. whistle o’er the lave o’t (p. 67) The meaning of the burden is approximately ‘it can’t be helped’; but the phrase comes to have another (indelicate) meaning, by inference; in Buchan’s song above it has become a synonymous phrase meaning ‘you know what’, i.e., fornication. it is likely that this is by PB himself. 212 cOMMenTAry On the device of a succession of suitors, see note to ‘Will ye lend me your loom, lass?’. in 5.1, whore should be pronounced hoor. With stanza 6 cf.: My mither sent me to the well, she had better gane hersell, i got the thing i dare nae tell, Whistle o’er the lave o’t. From herd 1776, ii, 208. This stanza enables us (perhaps!) to connect this song with ‘Kind robin loes me’, via Scotch Presbyterian eloquence Display’d (c. 1692?), in a well-known passage , where Mr Kirkton, preaching on hymns and spiritual songs, spoke of four kinds of songs, the first being ‘profane songs, My mother sent me [to] the well, she had better gone hersell, for what i got i dare not tell, but kind robin loes me’. (1790 edn, p. 114. it should be noted that this might well be a misquotation on the covenanter’s part.) cf. the following stanza of a song, ‘Bonnie Jean of Aberdeen’, through the kindness of W. B. Olson: But my minny set me to the well [mother] the night was dark i could not see my fit did slip and then i fell [foot] and Jockey fel a top of me This is from nls Ms 6299, copied into the manuscript c. 1740–1750. cunningham’s edn of Burns (pub. Jack, ii, 44) prints a version of this: ‘she sent her daughter to the well, Better she had gane hersel; she miss’d a foot, and down she fell – Whistle o’er the lave o’t’. cf. the 3rd stanza of three sung by Jimmy MacBeath (recorded 1952); scottish Tradition disc no. 1, Bothy Ballads, Tangent records, TngM 109, 1971: My mither sent me tae the well, Better her had gaen hersel, i fell ow’r and broke my pail, An’ whistle ow’r the lave o’t. hamish henderson in his notes cites the anonymous author of ‘gaelic erotica’ in Kryptadia , 10 (Paris, 1907): A study of the reverence paid to wells have [sic] left no doubt on the mind of the writer that it is equivalent to the worship of the natura foeminae. The same may be said of other sources of water [. . .] chuir mo mhathathair mi do’n allt, ’s mor b’fhearr dhi fein dol ann, Bhris mi ’m pgidh, ’s dort mi an leann, ’s chuir mi an ceann a cheil ’ad. cOMMenTAry 213 (My mother sent me to the burn, And it would have been better of her to go herself, i broke the pitcher, and poured out the ale, And set them at strife.) roud 506. Other versions include five in greig-Duncan, Vii, 267–68 (no. 1414), 2 with tunes, beginning variously ‘My mither / mother sent me to the well / moss’. harker, Songs from the Manuscript collection of John Bell (1985), pp. 201–202 (from northumberland), with a chorus, comparing Kidson, traditional tunes (1891), p. 104; and two fragmentary versions in lyle, crawfurd MSS (1996), ii, 122 (no. 152), 144 (no. 184), these latter featuring Maggy or Peggy Picken. They derive from, or at least are intimately connected to, a stanza in the 1825 Merry Muses (see 1884 edn, p. 24), Jenny Picken’s on the shore, she has written on the door: ‘Ony man a saxpence more— Whistle o’re the love o’t’. An expurgation of this is ‘Maggie Picken’ (beginning ‘Maggie Picken on the shore’), by William Watt (1793–1859) – in e.g. his Poems (1860), p. 297. indicated tune, ‘Whistle o’er the lave o’t’. The irish title Molly Picking on the Shore must be connected, and the tune seems to be a re-fashioning of Whistle o’er the lave o’t. see in JfSS, 6, no.1 (dec. 1949), 19, collected by ianthe Kidd in 1946 from a fiddler in co. down; it is found in the Americas as Mussels in the corner. it is more than likely that the stanza in question is a floater, or rather that it has been deliberately incorporated into Buchan’s text. in 2.2 the feasting is carried on ‘but and ben’, that is both in the outer and the inner rooms. in 15.2 fiel is either ordinary english ‘feel’, or in the scots sense ‘taste’. 27. The astrologer (p. 70) A version in Kinloch’s Ballad Book (1827), p. 37 (no. 10), with the same title (begins ‘There was a handsome ’strologer’) lacking Buchan’s last verse. Both of these probably stem from broadsides; e.g. of Pitts of london, beginning ‘There was an old astrologer in london who did dwell’, in holloway and Black, later english Broadside Ballads ii, 93–94. A traditional dorset version, collected 1906–7 by h.e.d. hammond, in Purslow, Marrow Bones (1965), p.1, with tune. roud 1598. note the motif of restoring the maidenhead (by the same process), which is mentioned in e.g. ‘The Widow of Westmoreland’ (in Kinloch, as above, no. i, pp. 1–3), and ‘The Tailor cam to clout the claise’ in herd (1776), ii, 145, titled ‘The Tailor’; also in MMc (1825), see 1884 edn, 107–9, and the falsely dated ‘1827’ edn, pp. 52–54. it occurs much earlier , in the Pepys Ballads, iii, 76, ‘Kate’s hue-and-cry after her Maiden-head’ (last stanza). The motif is K1362. 28. The Bridegroom grat, &c. (p. 73) note inconsistencies in the text (variable use of ‘said’ and ‘quoth’), perhaps a mistake in 17.2 (should resemble 17.4), and on the lines of the rest of the song there should be a stanza 214 cOMMenTAry between sts 12 and 13, to parallel 4.1, 7.1, 10.1, and 15.1, perhaps beginning ‘i hadna lien a little wee while’. The imprecation in 17 should mean something to the effect that ‘there’ll be no devil before ever you gain admittance’. (note that the same text, lacking the last 3 stanzas , is in Buchan’s British library Mss, i, no. 102 (= Mss Add 29.408, 276–78).) A practically contemporaneous version is in the crawfurd Mss (ed. lyle, 1975), i, 80–81: 1. The wooer cam to the widow’s dore And fain was he was he The wooer came to the widow’s dore And fain was he i’s warran 2. Wooer, wooer, would ye be in O aye quo he quo he i’s warran she opened and let him in And fain was he i’s warran 3. so wooer wooer wad ye hae a seat O aye quo he quo he i’s warran she gied him a seat and he sat down And fain was he i’s warran 4. it’s wooar wooar wad ye hae meat O aye quo he quo he i’s warran she gied him bread and cheese ti eat And fain and fain was he i’s warran 5. sae wooar wooar wad ye hae a bed O aye quo he quo he i’s warran she gied him a bed and he lay doun And fain and fain was he i’s warran 6. she jumpit behind him on the wa And squeek cryed he i’s warran so woor woor wad ye be out O aye quo he quho he i’s warran 7. she openit the dore and let him out And fain was he i’s warran There being a hole afore the dore in fell he i’s warran 8. Woor woor i doubt ye are faun O aye quo he quo he i’s warran deil may care if ye cum out Amen cryed he cryed he i’s warran cOMMenTAry 215 From John smith, 1827. crawfurd notes: ‘John smith got it at galloway at stranraer in his infancy’. The above of course is a slightly bawdy version of the well-known humorous song, ‘The cauldrife Wooer’ (beginning ‘There cam a young man to my daddie’s door’), in e.g. Scots Musical Museum (1790), iii, 228 (no. 219). lyle notes that st. 13 of the Buchan text connects with a Manx version in JfSS, 28 (Vii.3), (1924), 136: haink sooree deyr nish gys dorris ven troghe, As ‘Failt’ veagh ecksh, as ‘Fealt’ veagh agus, ‘hi, ho, will you be on? i mean’, said he, ‘ho ho’, said she, ‘hi, ho, will you be on? i mean’, said he, ‘i’m a true young man!’ The Manx translates as ‘came a wooer to the door of the widow-woman, And would that he were hired (engaged?) to her and she to him’. This comes from the collection of dr John clague, d. 1908; very few texts are given with the tunes; in this case, only one stanza. Buchan has a footnote on the title: ‘This is the original of Old [sic] robin gray’. According to Burns, the air of the very well-known ‘Auld robin gray’ was formerly ‘The bridegroom greets when the sun gangs down’ (dick, notes, 47). (it will be noticed that the title has little to do with our text beyond the greeting.) lady Anne lindsay (1750–1825) wrote ‘Auld robin gray’ sometime between the years of 1770 and 1772. ‘it owed its origin to a favourite air which had improper verses, of which only two lines are now known: But Oh! quo’ he, it comes o’er soon, The bridegroom grat when the sun gaed down. (dick, notes, p. 103, deriving from stenhouse, illustrations, p. 230.) While the tune survived , it did so with (because of) lady Anne’s words. For an examination of what might be called the Bridegroom complex, see ian spring, ‘Why did “the Bridegroom greet”?’, in folk Music Journal, 5, no. 4 (1988), 469–81. spring points out the occurrence of another related song, ‘The Bridegroom greets, etc’. in the Bl Ms (p. 379), where the problem seems to be impotence, involving the hiring of a substitute groom. roud 3867. 29. The Bed-making (p. 76) An english version has been recorded by Martin carthy on crown of Horn, Topic records, 1976, see rounder 3019, whence Frankie Armstrong’s set on ‘Out of love, hope and suffering’. Originally from Mrs Marina russell of upwey in dorset who gave the tune, a version of The cuckoo’s nest, to the hammonds at the turn of the century, with a fragmentary text, added to from other sources by Frank Purslow in The Wanton Seed: More english folk Songs from the Hammond and gardiner MSS (london: eFdss, 1968, p. 11), and ‘slightly stretched’ by carthy. Purslow’s sources are: tune: hammond d.898, from Mrs russell, upwey, dorset, december 1907; text: hammond d.590, george udall, halstock, 216 cOMMenTAry dorset, June 1906, with amendments from gardiner h.648, Benjamin Arnold, easton, Winchester, hants. november 1906. The first stanza runs: Oh! my father he was a good old man, he sent me to service when i was young. My missus and i we never could agree, Because that my master he would love me. Purslow notes: ‘i have seen a version of this song with the opening couplet: My father he sent me a long way from home/To a good old master who had a cross dame. As home should obviously be pronounced in the scottish manner, we may have a clue as to the song’s origin; but the 17th and 18th centuries’ fashion for mock scottish song should not be forgotten’. roud 1631. As to the tune, cf. note to ‘The cuckold’, no. 24 above. 30. The tailor’s courtship (p. 77) For a tune, a good fit would be ‘The Birken Tree’ (in Ford, VSB (1899), i, 90 (+ m.) 6 x 8 lines (1904 edn), p. 88). The choruses of 4 and 5 should probably differ, and it may be supposed that PB erred in his transcription. cf. ‘The Taylor’, amended by Burns, in SMM, V, 505 (no. 490), which has the same first stanza; and ‘The Tailor’s Bodkin’ in harker, Songs from the Manuscript collection of John Bell (1985), pp. 209–10 (no. 112), which is very close to Buchan, and explains bikkin by having bodkin (a sexual reference). (SnD s.v. boikin.) roud 8730. On 3.3, the lassie put butter in the tailor’s brose (oatmeal, porridge) as an aphrodisiac . cf. the bawdy song in MMc (1799), pp. 15–16. Put butter in my donald’s brose, For weel does donald fa’ that; i loe my donald’s tartans weel, his naked a—e, and a’ that. randall in Merry Muses (1966 edn), pp. 53–54, notes: ‘The erotic implication of the first stanza is better understood if one realises that porridge (“brose”) was regarded as an aphrodisiac’. he refers to the anonymous article ‘some erotic Folk-lore from scotland’ in Kryptádia (heilbronn, 1884), ii, 253–64, which notes (p. 258): ‘it is believed that certain kinds of food and drink tend to increase both the desire for and the pleasure in sexual intercourse, such as milk, and oat-meal porridge’. randall observes: Whether butter, a concentrated derivative from milk, was invested with the same quality is not stated. But certainly churning, the process by which butter is obtained, had highly erotic association. Kryptádia (Paris, 1907), X, 316, tells us that the word itself was ‘a very common and evident simile for coitus’. Putting warm stones in the bottom of the churn was said to bring butter’ when this proved difficult. An erotic hint is given with the words: ‘in entirely different circumstances this milkmaid’s charm has its exact counterpoint’. if a man lent a woman a churn staff, ‘she returned it with the remark “long may a long thing be yours and the ability to shake it”’, in cOMMenTAry 217 gaelic of course. There is actually even a reference to butter in connection with a woman’s genitals, the translation from the gaelic being given as: ‘he put a hand on the cunnus of the girl/ And thought that it was butter she had/ And he crammed that thing into it’ (Kryptádia (Paris, 1907), X, 315). The same idea is behind the seventeenth-century song ‘Brose and Butter’ in herd (1776), ii, 203–4: gi’e my love brose, brose, gi’e my love brose and butter, gi’e my love brose, brose, yestreen he wanted his supper. cf. also 2.1 (line 13) of Burns’s ‘The deuks dang O’er My daddie O’, where the old man, accused of sexual impotence, answers his peevish wife: i’ve seen the day ye butter’d my brose, And cuddled me late and early, O; But downa do’s come o’er me now, And, Oh, but i find it sairly, O. (here ‘downa do’s’ is ‘inability’, sc. to perform sexually. cf. note to ‘Our John is dowing’, in the Appendix.) likewise, in the song of ‘The shepherd and his Wife’, in herd (1776) i.182 (hecht, Herd MSS 163 ff.), the first inducement to return home is ‘ye’s get a panfu’ of plumpin parrage, / And butter in them’, followed up by several more offers, all with sexual connotations. (cf. note to ‘Bonny saint John’ in Appendix 1 below.) With the stones in the churn, cf. st. 6 of ‘Whistle o’er the lave o’t’, no. 26 above. 31. The whirley wha (p. 80) Whirleywha is a thingamajig, plaything. cf. legman, Horn Book, pp. 138–39; MMc (1966 edn), p. 125, and note, p. 254; a slightly shorter text from the cunningham Ms, omitting 3.5–8, 4.1–4. roud 12573. The ‘daughter of the earl of errol’ would seem to be Mary, daughter of James, thirteenth earl, and his wife rebecca lockhart, whom he married in 1749; she married Majorgeneral John scott of Balcomie. he was a brother of david scott of scotstarvet in Fife (who succeeded in 1766); he purchased the estate of Balcomie, parish of crail, and was MP for Fife; died without male issue. cf. a somewhat mixed-up song in greig-Duncan, Vii, 169–70 (no. 1369), ‘The First Time That i saw My love’, whose B version contains some of this: First she turned her back to him, And then she turned her wime [belly] And aye she looked for kindness, But kindness never came. . . . . . . . . she’s ta’en him by the skin o’ the wime 218 cOMMenTAry And thrown him to the wa’, says, ‘lie ye there, ye silly auld dog, you’ve lost your ————————’. The tune ‘The Whirlie Wha’ is in Aird’s Airs (1788), iii, 195. 32. gibbie Brown (p. 81) The tune, from the burden, might be that of ‘Turpin hero’. This somewhat innocuous song would seem to be a local production, and why not from the quill of Buchan himself? ‘October’ as might be guessed is ale brewed in October. Mormond and Benachie (usually spelt ‘Bennachie’) are local hills, each celebrated in a song of its own. roud 12556. 33. The lady and poor Pedlar (p. 83) note the prevarication of the pedlar: mortar: vulva, pestle: penis. Printed in roth, ehebruchschwänke in liedform (1977), p. 363 (no. e13), with misreadings 3.6 ‘meat’, 3.8 ‘unto’, 4.7 ‘to’ (for ‘still’), 8.4 ‘it’, 9.4 ‘hae’ (besides a few differences in spelling). see his notes, p. 84. he compares roxburgh collection, iii, 656 (roxburgh Ballads, Vii, 51 & 54), a white letter broadside without imprint, post-1750; this is in Farmer, MSB (1895, 1897), i, 247 (‘The Proud Pedlar’, beginning ‘so merrily singeth the nightengale’). The tale type is ATu 1420A, ‘The Broken (removed) Article’; Motif K1581.1. Also cf. J2301, ‘gullible husbands’. A direct german parallel is roth’s d14, ‘der goldschmiedssohn’, dated 1607. cf. ‘The Pedlar’ (‘sae merrily sang the nightingale’) in greig-Duncan, ii, 277 (one st. and music). Wehse, p. 381 (no. 270, ‘The Proud Pedlar’). roud 5852. 34. The lasses of kinghorn (p. 86) in 6.7 bleaching knocks and harrow bulls are improvised weapons. A knock is a kind of wooden mallet used for beating linen after bleaching; a harrow-bill is a spar from the frame of a harrow. On 1.5–6, cf. no. 4 above, ‘The soutter o’ new deer’, 1.5–6. cf. greig-Duncan, ii, 238 (‘The Kinghorn Ferry’), and fSne, article 169, from his excellent source Bell robertson (1908), begins ‘it fell upon a Wednesday’; and a broadside in the national library of scotland, dated c. 1701 (shelfmark: ry.iii.a.10(009), thus: The lASSeS of KingHorn Tune of clavers and his Highland Men. 1 All gentlemen and cavaliers that doth delight in sport, come here and listen to my song, for it shall be but short : And i’le tell you as brave a Jest, as ever you did hear : cOMMenTAry 219 The lasses of Kinghorn Town put our Officers in fear. 2 it fel upon a Wednesday the Month of February, some of the brave commanders came to Kinghorn Ferry, having with them a chapman lad, a Prisoner they had ta’en, The Tide was spent e’re they came there, and to the Town the’re gane. 3 And as they went along the street the chapman made his Moan. he wrang his hands and said, alas, that ever he was born; For i’m a silly poor Pedler, from me they ta’en my Pack, Of all my seven years gathering they left me not a plack, [small copper coin] 4 But yet with this they’r not content. nor will they pass me so, But i must be a soger, to Flanders i must go. To Flanders i must go? a soger for to be. But i will die e’re i come there, i’ll be so sick at sea. 5 The Women were much moved to hear him make his Moan. And some of them most courteously unto the captain’s gone, desiring him of charity that he would let him gang But be answered them disdainfully, he’d rather see him hang. 6 The women were much moved, and took this as a slight, 220 cOMMenTAry said he should be relieved in spite of all their Might: They gathered right hastly, and forth into a row, With Bleeching Knocks and harrow-Bills i wot they were not slow. 7 The captains they went back again, and out their swords did draw, The women then they leugh at them, of that they stood not awe ; But then on them they throng’d so fast unto the ground them dang, [knocked] And took the swords out of their hands, and soundly did them bang. 8 The captains they got up again, and longer durst not bide, For little of their Valour i’m sure was seen that tide: The women they charg’d furiosly, till that they made them run With Bleeching-Knocks and harrow Bills but neither sword nor gun. 9 The Women they charg’d furiously, ran down the Brae like fire, They made the captains stand in awe, and yield to their desire : The first was captain Wilson, with a rung in her hand, [cudgel] she made the captain stand in awe, and yield to her command. 10 The next was Major stenson and her sister also, give me the Pedler’s Pack again e’re that ye further go she took the serjant by the breast, she threw him on his back: lieutenant Birsel hastily took up the chapmans Pack. cOMMenTAry 221 11 But out came colonel Turnbul, that honest Widow Wife, she asked at her comerades, what meaned all this strife? They’ve ta’en a silly poor Pedler, and will not let him go: she answered them couragiously faith it shall not be so. 12 she took a Knock into her hand, of Bleeching she is good, she caus’d the serjant stagger in the place where he stood. And in her hand in his Pocket and out the Purse did draw, give him a clink out o’er the crown, awa ye rogue awa 13 The sailers they leugh heartily for to behold the sport, To see the captains run away for shelter to the Boat: But up spake general Paterson. she spake with counsel good, And she desir’d to sound retreat, for she would have no Blood. 14 For we’ve got the Pedlers Pack & Purse and this is all had he, had it not been for King William’s sake, We’d drown’d them in the sea. The captains then they were right glad, when that this news they heard, desir’d the seamen hoise their sails. and not longer to bide. 15 For we have all been sogers more then this duzen of years, And all the Battels we were at, we were never in such Fears, O fy on you for sogers 222 cOMMenTAry that ever you took pay, The lasses of Kinghorn Town they made you run away. F i n i s. The designated tune is that of ‘Killiecrankie’, set in SMM, ii (no. 102), to ‘Tranent Muir’. greig’s note on his version is: We got this ballad of ‘Kinghorn Ferry’ from Miss Bell robertson. it is a rather uncommon kind of production. ‘King William’ may be William iV., in which case the ballad would take us back to the Thirties of last century. But the style of the piece seems older than this, and though it carries us back to the end of the seventeenth century, i am inclined to think that the Monarch referred to must be William iii. This view gains confirmation from the reference which the packman makes to the wars on the continent. Further, the heroism of the women and their readiness to handle weapons is in keeping with the spirit of those days as illustrated by many another contemporary ballad. roud 5842. Kinghorn is a small town on the east coast of Fife; a royal burgh, the site of a royal castle, and close by is Pettycur, where Alexander iii fell to his death (1286) when his horse stumbled one dark night. 35. The Sodgers of edinburgh (p. 90) child calls this ‘The Wylie Wife of the hie Toun hie’, no. 290; he has four versions (V, 153 ff.): (A) ‘My lady ye shal be’ (‘it fell about the Martinmas’). 13 x 4 lines, from Thomas Wilkie’s Ms ‘scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy’ (1813–15), no. 72. (B) (no title) (‘it fell about the Martinmas time’). struthers, British Minstrel (1821), i, xxv. 16 sts, ‘copied from the recitation of one of the few oracles of tradition’ as struthers says (p. xxiv). child, V, 154. (c) ‘The Bonnie lass o’ the hie Toun end’ (in edinburgh, on a summer evening) (V, 155), communicated from haddington, as recited by Mrs richard dodds, Morham, loanhead, ‘aged over seventy’. 13 sts. (d) ‘The Flowers of edinburgh’ (‘All the soldiers in edinburgh town’) (V, 155), from the gibb Ms, no. 14, from the recitation of eppie Fraser, daughter of a tramp, and unable to read (n.b.), about 1840. 15 (partial) sts. The details of the seduction are omitted in all of these, possibly by struthers and child themselves. The title in child is that given by Motherwell (Minstrelsy, p. xci), referring to struthers ’ text; he adds in a note 8 lines (given by child, p. 156), that is two sts, ‘Aye she sat, and aye she grat’ and ‘Aye she sat, and aye she sang’, the first to fill the last lacuna in struthers (after st. 15) and the second to conclude the piece. (These are sts 12 and 14 of the crawfurd text in lyle, ii, 41–43, ‘The Bonnie lass o hietoun hie’.) The first omission (after st. 10) ‘may be supplied by a stanza of frequent occurrence in all ballads recording the mishaps cOMMenTAry 223 of bonnie lasses, and which need not be repeated’. Buchan’s text gives these latter sts, but is no more forthcoming on the first. Also: greig, last leaves, p. 244, 6 x 4–6 lines (title as child), begins ‘A’ the soldiers in edinbro toon’, = greig-Duncan, Vii, 467 (no.1499, ‘The sly Wife’), the barest rudiments of the story; ‘My Bonnie laddie has my heart’ (‘The brave young sodgers at edinboro’), christie, traditional Ballad Airs, ii, 120–121, 2 sts & music. roud 8305. 36. dickie Melvin (p. 93) Verses from a cante-fable; ATu 1360c, Motif K1556 (‘Old hildebrand’). see Anderson, Der Schwank vom alten Hildebrand (dorpat, 1931), etc. An english version, ‘little dicky Milburn ’, in Williams, Upper Thames (1923), pp. 293–94 (partial text of the song); and cf. ‘Oh dickey, Oh dickey’ (a fragment) in reeves, everlasting circle (1960), coll. by hammond in 1906. roud 1321. see also roth, ehebruchschwänke in liedform (München, 1977), pp. 399–401: Buchan ’s version, and a broadside of c. 1810–20, also reproduced p. 499; see his refs and notes, 101–2 (his no. e 37, ‘little dicky Milburn’) – where the husband is sent for epsom water. This may explain the otherwise mysterious ‘Absolam’ (presumably a mis-spelling of ‘Absalom ’) above. (ATu 1419J*, ‘husband sent for water’; cf. motif K1521.6.) Wehse, p. 413 (no. 332, ‘Tom Tram of the West’). 37. The lang girdin’ o’t (p. 94) evidently a localisation of the story, and somehow PB’s hand may be suspected in this. cf. the more well-known ‘duncan gray’ that inspired Burns three times, in which the burden is ‘high, hey the girdin o’t’, in hecht, Herd MSS, p. 208 (from Ms i, 35 a–b; ii, 42b–43a). Very close to the later copy in MMc (1799), 112–14 (4 sts), which is very probably a retouching of the herd copy. in the former st. 3 runs she took him to the cellar than, high, hey &c. To see if he cou’d do’t again, high, &c. he kiss’d her twice, he kiss’d her thrice, Till deil the mair the thing wou’d rise, Antho’ she cry’d out baith her eyes To get the lang girdin o’t. And in the latter she took him to the cellar then, ha, &c. To see gif he cou’d do’t again, ha, &c. he kiss’d her ance, he kiss’d her twice, An’ by the bye he kiss’d her thrice, 224 cOMMenTAry Till deil a mair the thing wad rise, To gie her the long girdin’ o’t. The tune seems to appear first in Oswald, cPc (1750), iii, 8; later in Mcgibbon’s coll’n of Scots tunes (1755), p. 1; Aird’s Airs (1782), ii, no. 111. The story of its composition by a carman in glasgow might be true, and i at least see no reason to doubt it. roud 12559. 38. The di’el and the feathery wife (p. 97) The motif is K216.2, ‘Bringing the devil an unknown animal’; ATu 1091. WBO: in Bl Mss, Walker (1915), App. c, no. 113 ‘The devil outwitted: Of all the plagues upon the earth/ The Politick Wife; Or, The devil Outwitted by a Woman/ Tune: (none indicated)/’. crawford collection (now on loan to nls), no. 950: Bow-churchyard / roxburghe collection, 3, 867: 41, long lane (evans, late eighteenth cent.) (douce collection, 3, 175v, no imprint available.) roth (1971), p. 179, notes: ‘grosse Übereinstimmung mit dieser schwankballade weist die Mecklenburger Prosavariante “de lulandsvagel” in g. henssen und r. Wossidlo, Mecklenburger erzählen, Berlin 1958, s. 169 f., nr. 101, auf’. roud 12551. cf. ian spring, ‘The devil and the Feathery Wife’, folklore, 99, no. 2 (1985), 139–45, an excellent article printing PB’s text, an oral version from shetland, and one from A. l. lloyd, comparing also the SSS text ‘The Baker o’ the Town o’ Ayr’, no. 5 above. 39. wattie and Jeannie (p. 101) in 1.1 tout is a slight illness; cf. SnD s.v. towt. in stanza 7 ‘We’ll durk it’ means ‘We’ll stop that, frustrate it’, durk (dirk) meaning to stab, hence to spoil or ruin; and neigour is the same as english nigger, though from the French nègre (the corresponding english form neger is obsolete or dialectal), here meaning ‘lout, reckless oaf’ (see SnD under ‘neeger’). cf. c. K. sharpe, A Ballad Book (1823), p. 28 (no. 8); he notes (edn of 1880, p. 129) ‘This was sung by Mary, our dairymaid; the last word is not to be found in Jamieson’. Jenny, scho’s ta’en a deep surprise, And sho’s spew’d a’ her crowdie; her minnie scho ran to seek her a dram, But scho stude mair need o’ the howdie. [midwife] ‘O, sandie, dinna ye mind’, quo’ scho, ‘Whan ye gart me drink the brandy, [made] ‘Whan ye yerkit me ow’r amang the braume, [jerked; broom] ‘And plaid me houghmagandy!’ [fornication] see also ‘Jeany’s Towte’ in harker, Songs from the MS collection of John Bell (1985), pp. 255–57 (no. 144), the complete story, where it is her mother who spoils their plans. The first stanza ends ‘And change the wee bit gowdie’; sharpe’s version makes more sense. roud 12571. cOMMenTAry 225 40. hay of ranna’s lament (p. 104) The title’s source is obscure, but hay of rannes is a documented family in Aberdeenshire. see e.g. William Anderson, The Scottish nation (1868), ii, 645–46, under ‘leith’. (Perhaps a tune title?) W. B. Olson provided a text, ‘The edinburgh ramble’, from nls Ms 6299, c. 1740–50, evidently two versions strung together, the second of which greatly resembles Buchan’s text. (Both copies may be seen on the archived Olson site.) 1 y]ou gallants so pretty in countrey and city attend to my ditty which to you i tell it is of my rambles and how i have gambeld and what sad misfortunes unto me befell i set out for edinburgh with money great score i never was in that brave city before i met with companions Moll, nelly and Peg who made me pay dearly for Bobing in bed 2 While my money lasted i plenteously wasted i wanted no pleasure that e’er could [be had?] Of dancing and pinking carousing and drinking with many a turn at Bobing in bed like Molly and nancy i] did pleasure my fancy &] they hurried me round to Balls and to play They confused my Brains and fired my head and constantly led me for bobing in bed 3 A]s i walked thro the city a wench that was pretty 226 cOMMenTAry came kindly unto me i]t being in the night she ask’d me to treat her i thought i could eat her she being so neatly dress’d ?]ys all in white s]he hurried me into a close that was nigh and unto an Ale house so cunning and sly The shape of her body and hair of her head did give me great fancy for bobing in bed 4 A bed and a chamber cause i was i stranger she made them believe that she was my wife great store of good liquor around we did Bikker [1st letter may not be ‘B’, but else?] i never was so blunder’d before in my life The drabs of the house Our host and his spouse went spunging about us our liquor to swill When i drunk they did make me [drank, take] they laid me in bed i said in the morning i’d pay the bill 5 My Punk she came to me and laid her down by me i gave her a guinea so] our Bargain was made To] fill my desire she gave me the fire to punish me fairly for bobing in bed But while i did sleep away she did creep she took away breeches my money and cloths cOMMenTAry 227 M]y apparrel and treasure to spend at her pleasure which made me look Blunt like among the town Beaus 6 i was in such slumber they thought a great wonder the hostler came to me by nine in the day he ask’d for my Britches [riches?] or where are my Breeches my money and cloths bing all taken away Then i scratch’d my eyes in a sudden surprize i suddenly found the Jade she was fled And thirty brave pounds she had for a prize which seemingly pai’d her for Bobing in bed 7 i was brought to the Justice without shoes or Breeches but wrap’t in a sheet for to pay for my sins There was five pound of lawing [reckoning] which made me to starve i wish’d myself down in the country again They demanded my note which to them i wrote And courteously told them that all should be paid The] landlord discharg’d me the Justice enlarg’d me but bad me keep distance from Bobing in bed 8 in] town i’d a friend who to me did lend A suit of Aparrel and money again 228 cOMMenTAry i] being relieved and my losses return’d Then home i return’d with a heart full of pain i d]eign to take care my money to spare A]nd ramble no more a]mong the young maids Th]ough both brisk and jolly i’ve paid for my folly a]t having adversion for Bobing in bed finis Olson notes: A tune Bob in the bed is in Walsh’s caledonian country Dances, Book 4, c. 1744, and in Johnson’s A choice collection of 200 favourite country Dances (1744), iii, Bl Ms Add l 23971 (c. 1770) has a Bob in ye Bed. Bob in the bed is also in rutherford’s 200 country Dances (c. 1756). it proves to be another name for Planxty connor; as Planks of connaught, g, 6/4, in B. Thumoth’s twelve english and twelve irish Airs ([n.d.] c. 1744). in 6/8 is a copy entitled The Belfast Almanach in gow’s Strathspey reels, Book 4. The tune is O’carolan’s John o’connor (O’sullivan’s title), but is simply called ‘Jigg’ in the incomplete collection of carolan’s tunes in nli. O’sullivan took this collection to be by the neals, c. 1721, but the recent Sources of irish traditional Music puts it at 1742 or later. A version in Bunting’s 2nd collection is not attributed to O’carolan. John o’connor (6/8, key g) is in the Ossian complete collection (1984), p. 84 (The Belfast Almanach). roud 12578. 41. will ye lend me your loom, lass? (p. 107) Also in Buchan’s Bl Mss, i, no. 163. ‘hey, Johnie cope’ which has an obviously similar first two lines, refers to the Battle of Prestonpans in 1745. Buchan does not claim the above as ‘The Original Way’ of the song; but as said above in the introduction, the fact that the tune title is employed in the text (evidently uniquely) is a good argument for considering this at least an early version of the song. roud 135. Other versions include: (A) herd, 1776, ii, 167 (a few variations in hecht, Herd MSS, p. 149, and SMM (1792), iV, no. 311 – Burns’s own recension, slightly cleaning up herd; 9 sts, begins ‘O lassie art thou sleeping yet’, burden ‘O let me in this ae night’, etc. hecht (p. 300) relates this song to black-letter ballads like ‘John’s earnest request’ (roxburghe Ballads, Vi, 202–15) and the old ‘O who is at my window, who, who?’ (see henley and henderson, iii, 377–78, 450, 492). On the tune, see glen, early Scottish Melodies (1900), p. 161. cf. dick, Songs, p. 142 (tune, called Will ye lend me your loom, lass? from caledonian Pocket companion (1752), iV, 21), and p. 406 (note). see also Kinsley, Burns, no. 485, and note, pp. 1469–70; also cf. the ‘loot me in’ metaphor of ‘she rose and let me in’ (in ttM, orpheus caledonius, herd, etc., and MMc, of course, since it has ‘palpable allusions’, as Burns might say). herd’s text in Burns’ Merry Muses (1884, reprint of 1825 edn), pp. 95–97; not in ‘1827’. cOMMenTAry 229 (B) An english version in reeves, idiom of the People (1958), p. 96 (no. 22), ‘cold Blow and a rainy night’, which seems to be an anglification of the scots (‘My hat is frozen to my head’, with line two of the chorus ‘cold blow and a rainy night’). (c) Modern scots version, e.g. sung by norman Kennedy, glasgow, c. 1964; cf. Jeannie robertson’s recording. 5 sts, beginning ‘i’m the laird o’ Windy-Wa’s’, the burden variations on ‘sae let me in this ae nicht, this ae, ae, ae nicht, / noo let me in this ae nicht, and i’ll spier back nae mair’. – i.e., a variation on herd once more. The tune here is a version of the new set of ‘The Muckin’ o’ geordie’s Byre’ (otherwise ‘Westering home’, from sir hugh roberton’s words). greig-Duncan, iV, 120–23 (no. 778) has three versions, one with the tune. This version may be of northern english provenance; cf. ‘let me in this ae neet’ in harker, Songs from the MS collection of John Bell (1985), pp. 284–85 (no. 170), with a note (in the Ms) ‘Windy Waws is near dalton northumberland’. randall in Merry Muses (1966 edn), pp. 143–45), not tracing a tune, suggests The Birks of Abergeldie or Auld Moulie Maidenhead, comparing the rhythm to the ‘nuts in May/ Mulberry Bush’ children’s song (i.e., nancy Dawson, or Piss Upon the grass). he also ingeniously interprets the action in a metaphorical sexual way: the oiling of the door, lubrication of the labia; the squeaking of the door, the cries of the girl at first penetration; when she is open wide (the door cast back to the weet) he will find his way in with ‘little din’. i find this far-fetched, but it is always possible. (d) The following fragment is from Kryptadia (heilbronn, 1884), ii, 253–64, ‘some erotic Folklore from scotland’, pp. 254–55: A song represents the lady-love as refusing to admit her lover as her father and mother would hear her open the door. her lover asks her to get from bed and: ‘Oil the bands till they be weet’ and then he says: ‘And i’ll come slippin’ etc’. The girl took the hint and the lover tells the sequel: ‘she oiled the bands till they were weet, And i geed (went) slippin’ etc’. and: ‘We dreeve the bottom oot o’ the bed [drove] The lassie leuked as her nose had bled Till her mother heard the din etc’. This is of north-east extraction, as the dialect shows. it is a great pity that the anonymous contributor was so reticent. The ‘loom’ is here revealed as a sexual metaphor; cf. ‘The Bob o’ dumblane’. Another song employing the metaphor of weaving is ‘The Weaver’, in Fowke, traditional Singers and Songs from ontario (1965), p. 38 (no. 13), recorded from 230 cOMMenTAry O. J. Abbott in 1958. Fowke was told by legman that the imagery was unique, which it is not, but one can call it rare, which itself is strange, because (as legman said in a letter to Fowke), ‘you would imagine the shuttle and loom would lend itself immediately to this imagery’. Another Buchan item on the same topic is ‘The Weaver and his shuttle’, q.v. – This is not to say that the metaphor does not crop up elsewhere very much, for in quite a few instances weaving is one of the many occupations that are followed by a succession of suitors, as e.g. ‘Two Kinde lovers’ (Pepys, i, 318–19), ‘hey ho, for a husband’ (Pepys, iV, 9), or ‘A Ballad of all the Trades’ in Pills (1719–20), iV, 61–62; the weaver is but one of many whose trade lends itself to double entendre. in Buchan and the others first mentioned, however, the weaving is the main activity, as does happen with the nineteenth-century ‘steam-loom Weaver’, in the Bodleian collection (see Firth b.34 – 281), with the lass the weaver and the lad an engine driver. 42. Preston Peggie (p. 109) Preston was held by the Jacobites in november, 1715, and thirty years later was on Prince charlie’s route south. cf. a fragment in dixon, Ancient Poems (Bell, 1877), p. 457: long Preston Peg to proud Preston went, To see the scotch rebels it was her intent. A noble scotch lord, as he passed by, On this yorkshire damsel did soon cast an eye. he called to his servant, which on him did wait, ‘go down to yon girl who stands in the gate, That sings with a voice so soft and so sweet, And in my name do her lovingly greet’. dixon’s note is: ‘Mr. Birkbeck, of Threapland house, lintondale, in craven , has favoured us with the following fragment. The tune is well known in the north, but all attempts on the part of Mr. Birkbeck to obtain the remaining verses have been unsuccessful. The song is evidently of the date of the first rebellion, 1715’. cf. ‘long Preston Peggy’ in harker, Songs from the Manuscript collection of John Bell (1985), pp. 298–99 (no. 182), 11 stanzas headed ‘lang Preston pegy a rebol song’. A chastened version of 6 verses, ‘long Waisted Peggy’, a J. Pitts print (1802 or later), is reprinted in holloway and Black’s later english Broadside Ballads (1979), ii, no. 11. Another very incomplete version, with some discussion of its history, is in John harland’s Songs and Ballads of lancashire (london, 1875), pp. 61–63. harland said that Peggy herself sang the song to the tune of ‘chevy chase’ (which one?). The ‘chevy chase’ tune given by simpson from a Ms at edinburgh university library (1650–75) as his no. 63 (in 6/4 time) is close to that in Fabian’s ballad opera trick for trick, 1735. The metre of these copies is like that of the scottish chevy chase, i.e., the vehicle of ‘i’ll never love thee more’ (‘My dear and only love, i pray’), also called Montrose lines, in e.g. SMM (1796), V, 464 (no. 452) 5 sts (+ m.); which is lord Derwentwater’s farewell, and also goes to the ballad cOMMenTAry 231 William and Margaret; though stenhouse alleges it to be chevy chase, which is its title in Wm. Mcgibbon’s collection of Scots tunes (1742–1755), p. 108, and elsewhere. With the original (english) words (‘My dear and only love, take heed’) in John gamble’s Ms commonplace Book (1659), no. 274 (repr. simpson, BBBM, p. 355, no. 228). roud 8764. 43. The young dairymaid (p. 112) datable from the style to c. 1820, probably lifted from a smutty songster or broadside of PB’s day, though it could equally well have been one of the ‘coarse, high-kilted songs’ that rankin entertained the young folks with. The tune gee ho, Dobbin is in chappell, PMot, ii, 691; the song is found on broadsides and in Apollo’s cabinet, or the Muses’ Delight (1757), ii, 232, and (as ‘The Waggoner’) in The frisky Songster (1776), 47 (no. 26). scots texts include James nicholson’s ‘imphm’ and ‘The Bonnie Wee Window’, greig-Duncan, Vii, 493, no. 1512. Also (as ‘The Buxom dairy Maid’, with music) in richards and stubbs, The english folksinger (1979), p. 148, from a Preston broadside in the harris library collection . Tune, gee Ho Dobbin, as above. The variations are minor, but there is a sixth verse: My snatch is my own and the ground is the king’s. it is free for a young man that brings a good thing. so let him be strong or ever so stout. i’ll warrant i’ll make him to quickly give out. roud 12570. 44. The Bonny lad (p. 113) evidently copied from the elizabeth cochrane Ms, where it is no. 35 (p.23). roud 12548. 45. The Irishman and cobler (p. 114) evidently copied from the elizabeth cochrane Ms (no. 56, p. 56). PB wrote lines 4–5 as one; they are separated here for consistency. roud 12542. 46. The friar and Maid (p. 115) The music is in simpson, BBBM, p. 474, from a c. 1710 broadside; also in Watts’ Musical Miscellany (1729–1731), Vi, 177 etc. Buchan might have got it (as much else) from Watts, though it appears in the 1825 edition of the Merry Muses (1884 reprint), p. 82, as ‘The Fair Penitent’; as also in ttM (1724), i. There is however also a copy in the elizabeth cochrane Ms (no. 61, p. 60), which is most probably PB’s source. in V. de sola Pinto, common Muse, p. 465, it is attributed possibly to John Wilmot, earl of rochester, which simpson finds doubtful. Wehse, p. 484, no. 469, ‘The Friar and nun’. roud 12543. it resembles many another dig at the priesthood (e.g. ‘il était un’ bergère’), but is actually so close as to be a relation (inspirer, or translation) of the French ‘le curé de Pomponne’: 232 cOMMenTAry le curé de Pomponne À confesse m’en suis allée au curé de Pomponne. (bis) le curé de Pomponne m’a dit: Qu’avez-vous fait mignonne? (refrain) Ah, il m’en souviendra, larira, du curé de Pomponne! (bis) le curé de Pomponne m’a dit: Qu’avez-vous fait mignonne? - le plus grand péché que j’ai fait, c’est d’embrasser un homme. (refrain) - le plus grand péché que j’ai fait, c’est d’embrasser un homme. - Ma fille, pour ce péché-là, il faut aller à rome! (refrain) - Ma fille, pour ce péché-là, il faut aller à rome! - dites-moi, Monsieur le curé, faut-y qu’ j’emmèn’ mon homme? (refrain) - dites-moi, Monsieur le curé, faut-y qu’ j’emmèn’ mon homme? - Ah! Vous prenez goût au péché, je vous entends, friponne! (refrain) - Ah! Vous prenez goût au péché, je vous entends, friponne! - embrassez-moi cinq ou six fois, et je vous le pardonne. (refrain)/Ah vraiment, je m’en souviendrai! la pénitence est bonne! (Tune in) la clé du caveau, no. 745. Text and music in Berthier, 1000 chants, i, 69. 47. damon and colia (p. 116) copied from the elizabeth cochrane Ms, p. 71, no. 70; Montgomerie transcribes the second name as ‘colin’. PPM, Vi, 36, with music: ‘The serenading song in the constant couple, or a Trip to the Jubilee; Written by Mr. g. Farquhar, set by Mr. d. Purcell, sung by Mr. Freeman’. Begins ‘Thus damon knock’t at cælia’s door’; words only in Farmer, Merry Songs and Ballads, iV, 67. roud 12541. 48. gossip John (p. 117) From WBO: A . . . . . vpon a strawe/ newes! newes! newes! newes! ye never herd so many newes!/ Zn3286| (no tune indication)/ cV 6 and reliquiae Antiquiae i, 239. (This is the prototype for ‘gossip Joan’, c. 1705, and i think it must be part of the ballad entered on 18 september 1579, ‘Jone came ouer london bridge, and told me all this geere’. Ai 1287. Much the same is ‘My lady went to canterbury’, in chambers and sidgwick, early english lyrics, cOMMenTAry 233 no. 151, from r. Keele’s carolles. One verse and chorus embedded in song in Pamelia, p. 31, 1609. cf. n3401.) roud 1039. A ‘gossip’ is a family friend, formerly of either sex; latterly reserved for a female crony (or a midwife). This song is still popular in england as ‘gossip Joan’ (in several song-books, e.g. Wood, The oxford Song Book, oft reprinted, p. 12). There is a 1906 dorset version in Purslow, Marrow Bones, p. 37, with music – including sts 7, 8, 11 of the above. see Williams, Upper Thames; JfSS, 34, 235–36; chappell, national english Airs (1838), pp. 151–52; also in PMot (1858–59), pp. 672–73. The version in PPM, Vi, 315, ‘The Woman’s complaint to her neighbour’) gives most of the PB text (with minor variations), though the tune is not the familiar one. Other texts in reeves, idiom of the People, pp. 117–18 (fragmentary), and in everlasting circle, pp. 127–28 (no. 54), of which 8 (of 9) sts are in Buchan’s text; collected by Baring-gould but not published. evidently copied from the elizabeth cochrane Ms, p. 133, no. 106, though PB misread the ‘lost’ of stanza 4 as ‘coft’, i.e., ‘bought’, perhaps because written with a long s. in 5.1 a ‘hairy groat’ is a harry groat, a silver coin worth about four pence, minted by henry Viii. its loss would be lamented, since it was a valuable heirloom. For a contemporary version, see ‘gossip John’, holme Valley Beagles, A fine Hunting Day, leader lee 4056. roud 1089. 49. The dyer of roan (p. 119) (rouen) Jerquer in 5.4 means ‘searcher, customs examiner’, but its significance here is not clear. cf. however the proverbial expression ‘a rod in piss’, i.e., future punishment. An english version of a French tale variously called ‘l’Abbé de confiance’, ‘l’Abbé et le Teinturier’, ‘la Vengeance du Teinturier’, etc. Verbatim as in Farmer, MSB, V, 192, which is from the Musical Miscellany (1729), iii, 60; tune, old Simon the King. Also in The Hive (1725), iii, 121; see simpson, BBBM, pp. 545 ff. on the tune. Printed also by roth (1977), p. 383 (no. e 27), with the music. see his notes, pp. 94–95, referring (via Frosch-Freiburg, Schwankmären und fabliaux,1971, p. 105), to the Old French fabliau by gautier le leu, ‘le prestre teint’, where the abbot loses his post when his lapse becomes obvious to all. see Montaiglon and reynaud, recueil général et complet des fabliaux des Xiiie et XiVe siècle (1890), Vi, no. 138. Text – ‘in good King lewis’s land’ – in the elizabeth cochrane Ms, p. 138, no. 108, but Buchan’s source is probably Watts once more. (Montgomerie supposes that PB copied it, as with five others, from the cochrane Ms, but he got the title elsewhere.) cf. note to ‘slow Men of london’, next item. A very short version is in roberts, The Merry-Thought (1731), i, 9–10, ‘On a Frier who cuckol’d a dyer at roan in France; and the dyer’s revenge in dying him Blue’. roud 12554. For comparison, here is a version of the French story, from the Pays de Tulle, 2003. c’était un abbé de confiance 1. [Je vais vous conter les amours d’un jeune curé des alentours] c’était un abbé de confiance 234 cOMMenTAry rempli d’esprit, d’intelligence il s’en allait matin, soirée Voire la femme du teinturier 2. le teinturier se dit un jour Je m’en vais lui jouer un tour il s’en all à la campagne Pour lui chercher du vin d’espagne Mais il revint le même jour Afin de lui jouer le tour 3. le teinturier n’fut pas rentré Trouva sa femme avec l’abbé il les trouva tous deux à table Bon pain, bon vin, bonne volaille Pour leur montrer son coeur joyeux il se mit à table avec eux 4. Quand ils eurent bien bu, bien mangé chacun parla de son métier Monsieur l’abbé de sa lecture le teinturier de sa teinture Monsieur l’abbé je vous en prie Quelle couleur vous ferait plaisir 5. Monsieur l’abbé qui est un peu fier dis moi je préfère le vert descendez dans mon laboratoire là nous conterons l’histoire et nous vous teindrons de bout en bout de la couleur de votre goût 6. Monsieur l’abbé fut pas rentré Trois compagnons l’ont attrapé l’ont pris pas sa noire ceinture l’ont plongé dans la teinture de temps en temps les compagnons lui enfonçaient la tête au fond 7. Monsieur l’abbé s’est écrié: grand dieu que je suis malheureux cOMMenTAry 235 Pour un p’tit moment de folie Je suis vert comme une prairie Voilà c’que c’est d’être coquet Je suis vert comme un perroquet. From J.-M. delaunay, cahier de chansons du Pays de tulle, p. 52. collected from leon Peyrat, who sang only 4 lines of stanza 1; they are here augmented from another version. internet source: http://www.rassat.com/textes_30/ [accessed 30 May 2009]. 50. Slow Men of london (p. 123) see chappell, PMot, p. 446, on ‘My father was born before me’, locating the above in Watts’ Musical Miscellany (1729), ii, 74. (Also in The Merry Musician (c. 1729), p. 37.) The tune is called Jamaica in The Dancing Master (1670), and is a popular Morris tune at the present time. WBO: evidently introduced into Beaumont and Fletcher’s play ‘Wit Without Money’ at some unknown time. With the wrong tune, Jamaica, in PPM, Vi, 93). (This is a longer text, and different from that in Watts’ Musical Miscellany.) With the tune called The Disappointed Widow in The Dancing Master, iii, in gay’s ballad opera Polly. curiously, a close variant of the tune is the irish tune The Humours of Dublin (c. 1726 and later, the earliest of that title). PB probably took this from the Watts’ Musical Miscellany, though it occurs in ramsay ’s ttM (1871 edn), ii, 252. Printed from Buchan in hamish henderson’s article ‘The Ballad, the Folk and the Oral Tradition’ in cowan, The People’s Past (1980), p. 78, with the comment: ‘in the north-east this would be sung more Boreali, and the occasional scots turn of phrase might well find its way into the text. indeed, in spite of the place names, the singer would probably think of it as a scots song. And it is plainly in a rather square-arsed ballad english’. note that henderson assumes it was sung in the north-east; in actual fact we have no guarantee of this, though it was evidently a favourite in ramsay’s edinburgh. he returns to the point in ‘At the Foot o’ yon excellin’ Brae’ (1983), see henderson (2004); saying ‘it has undoubtedly been sung into its Secret Songs shape – unlike (for example) “The dyer of roan” which is an excellent example of arch eighteenth-century english bawdry, quite plainly the product of a single pen and intelligence’. see henderson (2004), p. 68. roud 12564. 51. The Protestation (p. 124) This is a version of ‘An thou wert my ain thing’, late seventeenth- early eighteenth-century song, in ttM (1723; 1871, 1876 edn), i, 70; 4 x 4 lines + cho. (begins as title). SScA, p. 75: 5 x 4 lines and chorus (as title). st. 1 begins ‘i would clasp thee in my arms’. A continuation by ramsay follows (p. 76): ‘like bees that suck the morning dew’ (6 stanzas, same chorus). chambers, SSPB, p. 372 (+ music), 6 x 4 lines; 2nd st. ‘Then i would clasp’, from orpheus caledonius (1725, 1733), i, 47. ritson (1869), p. 123 (+ m.) 4 st. + chorus. orpheus caledonius , i, 47. First st. (‘i would clasp’) is here; ttM starts with ‘Of race divine’, herd (1776), i, 171 (10 x 4 lines; ttM + ramsay), (st. 1 ‘Of race divine thou needs must be’). 236 cOMMenTAry SMM i (1787), no. 2 (+ m.), as orph. cal. Watts’ Musical Miscellany is probably PB’s source. Tune in stuart’s Musick (c. 1725); in straloch Ms as An thou wer myn own thing. Other words to air: ‘Thy fatal shafts’ (smollett); ‘Wert thou but mine ain thing’. PB’s text is the complete ttM one, with the initial stanza absent in ramsay. no relation to the english song in Pills. Also as ‘A scotch song’ (gin thou wert my ene thing) in A collection of old Ballads (1723), ii, 253–54. roud 12575. 52. John and Susan (p. 126) The song (with music) is in The Merry Musician (1716), i, 274, Watts’ Musical Miscellany (1730), iii, 47–49, and The convivial Songster (1782), pp. 42–43; words only in The frisky Songster (1776), p. 29; Farmer, Merry Songs and Ballads (1897), iii, 256–58. The Ms writes 1.3–4 as one line. On the (original) tune, see simpson, BBBM, pp. 11–12. later appearances of the song (1725) use the music of of noble race was Shinkin (1693). note that the verse form is that of ‘Tom o’ Bedlam’, or the infamous limerick. Whatever the truth of the scandal, Brampton Bryan is a real village in herefordshire, where the family of harley has been centred since the fourteenth century; they were famous Puritans, and the family castle was pillaged by royalist forces during the civil War. roud 12557. 53. My apron, dearie (p. 128) First 3 stanzas (of 4) of ‘Apron deary’ in orpheus caledonius (1725; 1733), i, 68 (see below), with the first printing of the music. note that herd (1776), ii, 11, has the same 3 stanzas, though with a chorus (see below). PB has squeezed into line 3 the first half of line 4, which he has lengthened by the first three words. The same 3 stanzas in Farmer, MSB, iii, 259, from The Musical Miscellany (1730), iii, 74, which has the music – whence, probably, Buchan. Apron Deary 1. ’Twas forth in a Morning, a Morning of May, A soldier and his Mistress were walking astray; And low down by yon Meadow Brow, i heard a lass cry, my Apron now. 2. O had i ta’en counsel of Father or Mother, Or had i ta’en counsel of sister or Brother; But i was a young thing, and easy to woo, And my Belly bears up my Apron now. 3. Thy Apron, deary, i must confess, is something the shorter, tho’ naething the less; i never was wi’ ye a night but two, And yet ye cry out my Apron now. cOMMenTAry 237 4. My Apron is made of a lineum Twine, Well set about wi’ Pearling syne; i think it great Pity, my Babe shou’d tyne, And i’ll row it in my Apron fine. From orpheus caledonius (1725; 1733), i, 68, with the first printing of the music. The tune was well known in 1723, since ttM directs ‘Ah, chloe! thou treasure!’ to be sung to it. The words in SMM, i (no. 94) are sir gilbert elliot’s ‘My sheep i’ve forsaken’ (first appeared in yair’s charmer, 1749), whence ritson’s words and music (1869 edn), i, 198. Fraser (1816) has n’t aparan goired (no. 39), translated as Short Apron, claimed (as his title says) for the highlands, by which glen (eSM, p. 87) is unconvinced. The fourth stanza connects with ‘The rowin’t in her Apron’, Burns’s collection of a fragmentary dumfriesshire ballad – Kinsley, p. 844, no. 561; SMM, (1796), no. 424 – of which sts 2–3 run: her apron was o’ the hollan fine laid about wi’ laces nine; she thought it a pity her babie should tyne, And she’s row’d him in her apron. her apron was o’ the hollan’ sma’, laid about wi’ laces a’, she thought it a pity her babe to let fa’, And she row’d him in her apron. The tune in SMM and Kinsley is in Macdonald’s Airs (1784), no. 57, as My love is fixed on Donald. The stanza may have floated into the orpheus text because of the apron; i doubt there is a real connection between the two songs. Which came first, on the other hand, is a chicken-and-egg question. Another set in herd (1776), ii, 11: 1. ’Twas early in the morning, a morning of May, A soldier and a lassie were wauking astray; close down in yon meadow, yon meadow brow, i heard the lass cry, my apron now. My apron, deary, my apron now, My belly bears up my apron now, But i being a young thing, was easy to woo, Which makes me cry out, My apron now. 2. O had i ta’en counsel o’ father or mother, Or had i advised wi’ sister or brother, But i being a young thing, and easy to woo, it makes me cry out, My apron now. My apron, deary, &c. 238 cOMMenTAry 3. your apron, deary, i must confess, seems something the shorter, tho’ naething the less; Then had your tongue, deary, and i will prove true, And nae mair cry out, your apron now. your apron, deary, &c.—your belly, &c. Then had your tongue, &c. The first chorus should repeat lines 3–4 of the preceding stanza; as given, it fits st. 2, but should be altered accordingly after st. 1. roud 8700. 54. a yorkshire tale (p. 128) undoubtedly from Watts’ Musical Miscellany (1729–31), iii, 76–80; whence also Farmer MSB i.230. Printed in roth, 347 (no. e 2); notes, pp. 75–6. The last line has been proverbial since shakespeare’s time. Motif K1321, ‘seduction by man disguising as woman’; motif K1543, ‘husband unwittingly instrumental in wife’s adultery’. WBO: song and tune are evidently by richard leveridge. single sheet song with music, and in Merry Musician and Musical Miscellany, iii, with tune. Tune is also in several ballad operas. 55. The Silent flute (p. 132) in Farmer, Merry Songs and Ballads (1895), i, 228–29, with the headnote: ‘Broadside song with music: the words by sol. Bolton to the tune of Sally in our Alley (carey, c. 1720); in Musical Miscellany, 1729, iii, 94 and many other collections’. (see chappell PMot, pp. 645–48, mentioning only the first line of our text.) A broadside is in the Madden collection at cambridge; and a British library broadside text (Blg 3305) in harold gene Moss, ‘Popular Music and the Ballad Opera’ (1973), pp. 371–72, in a series of adaptations of carey’s song. in 5.6 Buchan has not crossed the t of ‘neatest’, so it looks like ‘realest’, which makes sense also. A variant of the last lines in The Wrecks (c. 1933), p. 18: The flute is good that’s made of wood, And perhaps it is the neatest; But, dear girls, you must confess, The silent flute’s the sweetest. roud 12563. 56. cleon and Sylvia (p. 134) An adaptation of a song by Thomas d’urfey; with music in his new collection of Songs and Poems (1683), p. 1 (see in simpson, BBBM, p. 23). in Watts’ Musical Miscellany, iii, 118, with a new setting by sheeles; this is very probably Buchan’s source. Playhouse song, expanded broadside ballad version is Zn2153 in the Olson Ballad index. Original tune has disappeared. roud 12549. cOMMenTAry 239 57. The happy Beggar wenches (p. 135) in ttM, 14th edn, iV (1871/1876 reprint), ii, 148, with a few slight differences (title ‘The happy Beggars’). in The convivial Songster (1782), p. 248, to the tune let a Set of Sober Asses; this latter song is on p. 174, and in Watts’ Musical Misc. (1731), Vi, 42. roud 12537. 58. The Bashful Maid (p. 137) single sheet song with music, same title, 1720s. (cf. Farmer, MSB, ii, 196, a ‘Broadside song with music’, which he dates c. 1720.) The tune as 1st line is in three ballad operas. Words and music in Watts’ Musical Misc. (1730), iii, 172–73. roud 12547. 59. Pope Joan’s kissing dance (p. 138) The ‘real’ John Viii is supposed to have been substituted for the ‘mythical’ Pope Joan. Born in rome, he was elected pope in 872. he supported the missionary work of ss cyril and Methodius among the southern slavs (for whom they devised the cyrillic alphabet) and approved the use of slavonic in local worship. in 879, he recognised Photius as Patriarch of constantinople, and called the conference that reconciled the eastern and Western churches. he managed to keep the saracens from invading rome by bribing them. John crowned two emperors, charles ii (the Bald) and his successor charles the Fat. he was assassinated in 882, allegedly by his own relatives. Joan herself is a (probably) mythical female Pope first recorded in the thirteenth century by Jean de Mailly (Metz chronicle, c. 1250), whence probably the dominican stephen de Bourbon (d. c. 1261), in his tractatus de diversis materiis praedicabilibus. The story was repeated by Martin of Troppau in his official history of the popes (chronica de romanis Pontificibus et imperatoribus) in 1277, and it was widely and long accepted. Born in germany of english parents, she eventually went to rome, passing under the name of Johannes Anglicus. her wide learning gained her election to the papacy in 855 as John Viii, succeeding leo iV (and preceding Benedict iii). she died in childbirth during a solemn procession. This is supposed to have given rise to a test of the maleness of popes (in abeyance for several centuries now) where the pontiff was seated in a bottomless chair and inspected to see whether he was in fact genitally male (approved with the words ‘Testiculos habet’, or alternatively ‘Mas nobis nominus est’). A chair does exist in rome to this day, called the sella stercoraria, illustrated in donna Woolfolk cross’s historical novel Pope Joan (new york: crown, 1996), p. 416; the examination is described in Adam of usk’s detailed description of the coronation of innocent Vii (1404). david Blondel, a calvinist scholar, attacked the myth in 1647, but it lingered on till finally shown up by döllinger in 1863 (Die Päpst-fabeln des Mittelalters, ch. 1, ‘die Päpstin Johanna’, surveys all the literature with exhaustive scholarship, and concludes it is fabulous). The greek author emmanuel royidis published a novel Papissa Joanna on the subject in 1886 (well adapted into english by lawrence durrell); royidis was excommunicated for this breach of decorum, and the book was banned, but he was quite convinced that the story was true. see further, Alain Boureau, The Myth of Pope Joan, trans. by lydia g. cochrane (chicago: university of chicago Press, 2001), a comprehensive debunking of the legend. 240 cOMMenTAry Pope Joan gave her name to a once popular card game played by three or more persons with an ordinary pack minus the eight of diamonds (called the ‘Pope Joan’), using a circular revolving tray with eight compartments for holding the stakes. The oxford english Dictionary, while deriving the game’s name from ‘the fabulous female pope Joan’, notes that one may compare its French name nain jaune (yellow dwarf), adding sixteenth-century quotations with the (proverbial) phrase ‘As merry as Pope Joan’; the first quotation on the game is 1732. By 1887 it had been superseded by ‘newmarket’. The connection with all these things is the number eight. in the song we have eight lads and seven lasses. i would suggest that the idea of a round game is the basic motif, probably from the card game; and the Kissing dance itself was pretty popular. in the present song, ‘kissing’ may be read as a euphemism for actual intercourse, a common usage (though mostly, and deliberately, ambiguous); cf. ‘The Pretty chambermaid’ below. The song above is probably from Watts’ Musical Miscellany. (1730), iV, 65–73, all 44 stanzas; also in The Spinnet (1750), p. 65, with music and note ‘set by Mr. sheeles’. his compositions are all of around 1720–30. A song to the tune of ‘Pope Joan’s Kissing dance’ is in The Vocal Miscellany, ii (1734), p. 313. roud 12576. ‘uds-bobs’ in 26.4 is a perverted euphemistic oath, occurring, for example, in smollett ’s roderick random (1748); -ods bobs, from ods bodikins, ‘god’s little bodies’, i.e., the host. in that same stanza ‘cinque-trey’ comes from the two-dice gambling game of hazard , a five and a three, totalling (once more) eight. 60. The cordial (p. 145) By Allan ramsay, in ttM (1724; 1876 edn), i, 83; also in new Misc. (1727), p. 101. herd (1776), ii, 110; SMM (1792), iV, 335 (no. 324) (+ m.). Tune, Whar’ll our gudeman lie? – this latter old song is in cromek, reliques of robert Burns (1808), p. 295; whence dick, Songs (1903), p. 353 (4 lines). Music in dick, p. 9; Watts’ Musical Miscellany (1731), V, 106; Oswald, cPc (c. 1755), Vii, 22; Aird, Airs (1782), i, 95. Titled Where wad bonie Annie lie from ramsay’s verses. english title is rood house rant (northumberland Ms, 1694), or red House (Dancing Master, 1695). dick (p. 354) says it is the original air of ‘d’ye ken John Peel’. (see JefDSS, 4 (1941), 80–84: A. g. gilchrist on red House and its John Peel connection . stokoe and reay, Songs & Ballads of northern england (1899) give it to this tune. There is only text, of course, in Williams, Upper Thames, ‘d’ye mind John Peel?’). SMM version of tune (1792), no. 324, is major: e flat, 2/4: mr/ dd’d’tl/ ssm- etc. Also found in the minor. Other words to air: ‘The Woodlark’ (Burns); ‘O wha my babie-clouts will buy’ (Burns); ‘O what can mak’ my Annie sigh?’ (Anderson). The cordial of the title has a sexual meaning (semen), and so probably has ‘thing’ in 1.4. in 1.3, ‘standing by’ is very likely a double entendre. The oboes in 2.6 were favourites for playing at weddings. roud 12550. 61. The double entendre (p. 146) With the music in Watts’ Musical Miscellany (1731), Vi, 63–64; and The convivial Songster (1782) p. 88. roud 12552. cOMMenTAry 241 62. The gallant Schemer’s Petition (p. 147) in The frisky Songster (1776), p. 117 (no. 68), and Farmer, MSB, i, 238, ‘The gallant schemer ’s Petition to the honourable Mrs. F——s’, from the Musical Miscellany, Vi, 88; set by Mr sheeles. MM has to be PB’s source. Farmer has 2.1 Jutt, 4.3 dare (which is more likely!, and is of course in previous printings). The frisky Songster text for 3.3 has ‘By the thoughts i lie down with, and those when i rise’, which is manifestly more suggestive. WBO: single sheet song with music with title ‘The lover’s litany’. untitled and without tune in The Vocal Miscellany, 2nd edn, 2 vols (1734), ii, comic Miscellany (1756), and yair’s The charmer, 3rd edn (1765). Also: convivial Songster (1782), p. 111; and The Masque, 1785. roud 12544. 63. The Penitent nun (p. 148) Probably from the Musical Miscellany (1731), Vi, 184. The words are by John lockman, set by Mr haym. Text also in Farmer, MSB (1897), V, 200, with a few misprints. roud 12536. 64. The london ’Prentice (p. 149) ‘Bow-bells’ are those of the church of st Mary-le-Bow in cheapside, london. Traditionally , only those born within their sound are cockneys. earlier, however, the word was applied to townies in general, to mean anyone ignorant of country ways (e.g. gratiae ludentes, 1638). On ‘crack-shop’: oeD cites d’urfey, 1676, in the sense of ‘brothel’. deriving ‘crack’ from the meaning ‘flaw, deficiency’, etc., oeD defines it as ‘a woman of broken reputation; a wench, a prostitute’. Partridge more plausibly derives it from the meaning ‘a woman’s genitals’ (not in oeD – since the term is slang), from the meaning ‘fissure’. cf. a broadside in the Percy collection printed c. 1750, in roth, ehebruchschwänke in liedform (1977), pp. 349–50, titled ‘The crafty london Apprentice, Or Bow-Bells’, beginning ‘you london dames that love to range’. This has a few readings that are better than Buchan’s, wherever he got them; the ‘blank’ of 27.1 is ‘baulk’ in the broadside. The word at the end of 7.3 (‘knave’ or such) is difficult to make out, and the broadside does not help, reading ‘The Prentice thus observing her,/ Was then resolv’d to know’. There is also an extra stanza (8 lines), to conclude the story with a lesson: ‘Thus he now thro’ his policy,/ Keeps his Mistress in fear, And oftentimes deprives his Master,/ Of his own due we hear, ’Tis an old saying, and a true one,/ The blind eates many a Fly; And so doth the Vintner, poor heart,/ That hath got his eyes to see’. The broadside seems to be that copied into Buchan’s Bl Mss, ii, no. 263, ‘The Bow Bells’, see Walker, p. 189. Wehse, p. 406 (no. 322). roud 12560 (23 records). 65. The Sailor’s frolic (p. 154) see roth (1977), p. 404 (and note, 103–105) for a Percy broadside, ‘Tit for Tat; or, The Merry Wives of Wapping’, c. 1750, which has a few more (necessary) verses than Buchan. Wehse, pp. 423–23, no. 355B. Buchan’s text is practically identical to ‘Tit for Tat’, on Olson’s Website, ‘scarce songs’, i. Another version in digital Tradition. A version from an eighteenth-century Belfast chapbook is printed in Palmer’s Boxing the compass, p. 137, no. 55; and holloway and Black, ii, 80. Motifs: K1551, ‘husband returns home secretly and spies on adulteress and 242 cOMMenTAry lovers’; K1514.4.2.1, ‘cuckold husband hides under bed’; K 1311, ‘seduction by masking as woman’s husband’. The general type is ATu 1359. roud 12545. 66. The gown of green (p. 157) cf. Kidson, traditional tunes (1891), pp. 62–65: 5 stanzas (only) of a version on broadsides, also found ‘in a very scarce song book (small quarto in size), entitled, The Vocal library, dated 1818’. st. 1 approximates 5 of above. The ‘gown of green’, of course, indicates grass stains on the skirt, got during al fresco intercourse. greig-Duncan, iV, 485–87 (no. 907), 4 versions with music; 2 tunes, the second a set of The fause lover Won Back. roud 1085 and 12579. 67. The farmer and lace Merchant (p. 159) cf. a Bl broadside in roth, p. 392 (no. e 33), titled ‘Tit for Tat’, dated to c. 1800, practically word-for-word the same as our text; also in holloway and Black (1975), p. 149, from the Madden collection at cambridge. roud 12538. 68. fun upon fun (p. 161) Otherwise titled ‘The Butcher’s daughter’s Policy; or, the lustful lord well fitted’ (four copies in the Madden collection); motif K1223, ‘Mistress deceives lover with a substitute’; type ATu 1441A*, ‘The inked girl’ (where she smears herself with black ink). Wehse, p. 282 (no. 50). roud 12546. 69. The Pretty chambermaid (p. 164) see roth (1977), p. 423 (no. e 49), ‘The country squire’, a Boston (1811) chapbook version practically identical to this. Another title is ‘The squire and chambermaid’. ebsworth, roxburghe Ballads, Vii, 537, reprinted it from The Masque (1767), and it is in the 2nd edn, 1768, and later undated editions, and in The Syren (1772) and The Modern Syren (1781). it is also in encyclopedia of comic Songs (1819), and in a dublin edition of The Merry Muses of caledonia (1825). it was also published as a single sheet issue with music. see also The frisky Songster (1776), p. 86 (no. 52); The gentleman’s Bottle-companion (1768), 29–30 (no. 18). The tale occurs in the fourteenth-century Persian collection, tuti-nameh, or tales of a Parrot. (see tr. by emile Muller (1934), Tale 8, ‘d’un marchand dupé par sa femme’, pp. 36–39, with the wife using the stratagem.) While it probably passed through italy, it is found in France as tale no. 45 of The Heptameron, from which it was included in la Fontaine’s collection as ‘The servant girl Justified’ (la servante justifiée), a favourite for illustrators like Fragonard. la Fontaine was probably the source for John howard Payne’s farce based upon it, ’twas i (covent garden, 1825). Marguérite de navarre’s tale is in, for example, Michel François’ edition of l’Heptaméron (Paris: garnier, 1943), p. 304, ‘un tapissier tourangeau “donne les innocents” de sa façon à sa chambrière puis à sa femme’. Palmer in everyman’s Book of British Ballads, no. 117, printed the text from a broadside , and used a version of ‘William guisman’ for the tune. A traditional text without a tune is in Williams’s folksongs of the Upper Thames, p. 124. holloway and Black, ii, 53. roud 1257. cOMMenTAry 243 70. The Parson’s fat wedder (p. 166) Previously printed by PB in a chapbook, The Bellfast Mountains (Peterhead, c. 1820); in glasgow university library it is listed as no. 80 in the Fairley bibliography; see Walker (1915), p. 153. Printed in roth (1977), p. 401 (no. e 38, ‘The Parson’s Wether’), with excellent references. Type ATu 1735A, ‘The Wrong song’ (Motif K1631). Four versions, with tunes, in greig-Duncan, ii, 417–19 (no. 309), called variously as above or ‘The Minister and his Wether’. (The d version, the only complete one, is from PB’s chapbook.) A 16–line fragment : ‘little Billy’ (‘now little Billy is gone to the kirk’), in Bell, rhymes of northern Bards (1812), p. 257; beginning at the crisis (and omitting the outcome). Wehse, p. 487, no. 474, ‘Parson Brown’s sheep’. roud 2498. 71. The wanton Virgins frightened (p. 168) see simpson, BBBM, pp. 422–23, under ladies of london, and Farmer, MSB, i, 220, from PPM, which lacks the last verse of our text. WBO: This is d’urfey’s song. ‘you that delight in a jocular song/The Wanton Virgins Frighted’, tune, ‘ladies of london’. This may be printed, ‘r. P’. (see d’urfey, Pills (1719) , ii, 12; crawford collection, no. 1425; r. Kell/ crawford collection, no. 1426; J. Pitts (1802–40); douce, ii, 239; douce, iii, 104v. see in A collection of old Ballads (1723), ii, 130–32. greigDuncan , Viii, 328, no. 1893, ‘All you who delights in a jolly old song’. Wehse, p. 438 (no. 380). roud 12568. 72. The Minister’s Maid’s courtship (p. 172) it will be noted that st. 7 is defective, while 3 has 2 lines too many; evidently PB made a mistake in transcribing his fair copy, and 3.5–6 should come after 7.2, or begin the stanza (as in g-d c). From 2.4–5 we may conjecture that the intended tune is Sae merry as we hae been. (in most of the early printed scottish collections, and SMM, no. 59, to the words first found in herd (1776), i, 286.) Bangour in 9.7 is the c.M. psalm-tune Bangor; in William Tans’ur’s compleat Melody (1734), and in several hymn books to various texts. 3 versions in greig-Duncan, Vii, 468–69, no. 1500, with 2 tunes (‘When i was a bonny young lassie’), the third being the complete story. The tune there is a version of the old set of The Mucking o geordie’s Byre. roud 12562. 73. The absent farmer (p. 175) An english version from dorset, 1906, ‘The Poor Old couple’, in Purslow, Marrow Bones (1965), p. 71, from the hammond Mss, printed also in roth, pp. 359–60, with the music (see his notes and p. 82). Another from sharp (1908) in richards and stubbs (1979), p. 132, with another tune (text in reeves, idiom, p. 174). As for the type, it is closest to ATu 1419J*, ‘husband sent for water’. Motif K1521.6, ‘husband busied with performing task while paramour escapes’. roud 491 (12 records). 74. The Mill, Mill, o (original way) (p. 176) The coggin o the mill wheel means the steadying of it by means of a wedge. Multure was the duty, or commission, payable to the miller for grinding a quantity of corn in his mill; 244 cOMMenTAry cf. ‘The cuckold’. leuder is ‘a heavy wooden bar or pole used for levering up a mill-stone’ (SnD, under ‘lewder’; Jamieson (1808), as lowder); mot is ‘a mound of earth’; jot probably is ‘the least little bit’; cluice is ‘sluice’; shiel, ‘throw out or eject’ in the act of husking; mill e’e is ‘the orifice which conveys meal from the mill-stones to the meal bin; less freq[uently], the hole in the runner-stone which receives the grain from the hopper. Also used by synecdoche = the whole mill and pertinents’ (SnD, under ‘mill’). note the omission of the ‘O’ in the chorus. cho. 2 means ‘putting a brake on yon mill wheel’; 4 she’ll ‘get her malt ground’, i.e., have sex. The metaphor is common. cf. a version (‘Original set’) in the MMc (1799), pp. 73–74, as below; and (with music) in Maccoll, folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland, p. 60, quoting Allan ramsay’s attempted softening, which is also in MMc, p. 71. 1. As i came down yon waterside And by yon shillin hill, O, [= the shelling-mill for corn] There i spied a bonny lass, A lass that i loed right weel, O. The mill, mill, O, and the kill, kill, O, [kiln] An’ the coggin’ o’ Peggy’s wheel, O, The sack an’ the sieve, a’ she did leave, And danc’d the millar’s reel O. 2. i spier’d at her, gin she cou’d play, But the lassie had nae skill O; An’ yet she was nae a’ to blame, she pat it in my will, O. The mill. &c. 3. Then she fell o’er, an’ sae did i, And danc’d the millars reel, O, Whene’er that bonny lassie comes again, she shall hae her ma’t ground weel, O. The mill, &c. The above from MMc (1799), pp. 73–74. With variations in hecht, Herd MSS, p. 115; and cf. Burns’s notes (laing Mss, edinburgh university; Burns chronicle (1922), also in davidson cook, Annotation, p. 5; this last being but the first stanza and chorus). The MMc version was probably dighted by Burns. Farmer, MSB, iV, 262–63, follows MMc. see legman’s note, MMc (1965 edn), pp. 194–96. see also dick, Songs, p. 244 (tune), p. 455 (note); the air is in SMM (1790), iii, no. 242, whence Kinsley’s set, p. 685 (to Burns’s verses ‘When wild War’s deadly Blast was blawn’). Previously in orpheus caledonius (1725), no. 20; stuart’s Musick (c. 1725); Mcgibbon, A collection of Scots tunes (1746), p. 14; Oswald, caledonian Pocket companion (1751), iii, 2; etc. The set of the tune in stewart (c. 1726) differs from that in orpheus caledonius; glen, eSM, p. 140, comments: ‘[ramsay] has the better first strain, while [Thomson] is superior in the second, a fact which points to various versions being current at the time’. stenhouse, illustrations, p. 225, says the air is in Mrs crockat’s Mss, 1709. roud 8486. cOMMenTAry 245 75. The lee rig (p. 177) in line 10 prinkle is a young coalfish, gradus virens. The waur horse in line 3 is the horse that carries ware (i.e., seaweed); see Buchan’s note on this below. cf. lines 5 seq. with st. 3 of ‘The Ploughman’ in herd, ii, 144: Whan my ploughman comes hame at ev’n, he’s often wet and weary; cast aff the wet, put on the dry, And gae to bed, my deary. The exposure of genitals in 11–12 may be compared with that in ‘eppie Macnab’, st. 3: When first i met wi’ thee, Jock rob, Jock rob, When first i met wi’ thee, Jock rob, Jock rob! Thy breeks they were hol’d, and thy —— hung out, [pintle, penis] And thy —— play’d ay did dod, did dod. [ballocks] here from MMc (1964 edn), p. 127. Appears first in The giblet Pye (c. 1806), p. 87, and not reprinted in any of the Merry Muses editions subsequently, till 1959. The basis of Burns’s song of the same name (centenary edn, iii, 101; Kinsley, ii, 615, no. 355; and see his note, iii, 1391–92). Buchan told Motherwell that the original was a song his great-grandmother had sung, called ‘The Ware-horse’ (hecht, Herd MSS, p. 282; see Motherwell’s Burns, iii, 53; ‘Ferguson and Burns’ in renfrewshire Magazine, december 1846; grosart’s Works of robert fergusson, p. 64; Buchan’s [B.l.] Ms i, 115 b, as below.). hecht considers this a ‘modern vamp’. The information is in Jack’s edn of cunningham et al., complete Works of rB, ii, 106, a footnote to Burns’s ‘My Ain Kind dearie O’: The original or old name of this song was the Warehorse. ‘Burns and Fergusson’, says Mr. Buchan, ‘have exerted their skill to make words worthy of so fine an air; but my great grandmother’s way ran thus: ‘i hae been at the ware-horse, Till i am wet and weary, O; cast aff the wet, put on the dry, come to your bed, my deary, O. i’ll row you up, i’ll row you down, And row till i be weary, O; i’ll row you on the lea-rig, My ain kind deary, O. But how are ye sae bauld, sir, And you my father’s cottar, O; As row me on the lea-rig, And me his eldest dochter, O? 246 cOMMenTAry As row me up, and row me down, And row till i be weary, O; And row me on the lea-rig, My ain kind deary, O. Then tho’ the night be ne’er sae dark And i be wet and weary, O! i’ll hap you in my petticoat, My ain kind deary, O. Then row me up, and row me down, And row till ye be weary, O; And row me on the lea-rig, My ain kind deary, O’. To those unacquainted with the term or name of ware-horse, it may be necessary to add, by way of explanation, that along the rocky and steep coast of the east of scotland the adjoining lands were manured with a kind of sea-weed, called ware, which was carried on the backs of dwarf horses in wooden creels or curroches, and led by the young women belonging to the farm. – The men’s duty was to gather it from the sea, load the horses, and afterwards spread it on the land. This appears to be an adaptation (to say the least) of the original song, attributed to Fergusson , and employing only the chorus and tune, perhaps a bawdy parody. That original is in hecht, Herd MSS, i, 100–101, and with variations in Ms ii, and SMM (1787), i, no. 49, the latter two without the chorus. Also in The charmer (1782), p. 192. cf. greig-Duncan, iV, 50 (no. 734, ‘My Ain Kind dearie’), one stanza without tune, from Bell robertson: i’ve been at the ware shore, and i am wet and weary O cast aff the weet, pit on the dry, my ain kind dearie O. And ye row me owre the learig, my ain kind dearie O, ye row me up, ye row me doon, ye row me owre fu’ cheerie O. The tune in SMM is from caledonian Pocket companion (1756), Viii, 20 (whence Kinsley, no. 392). SMM text attributed (by Burns and others) to Fergusson, who (hecht feels) only ‘transmitted’ it (see his note, pp. 281–82). see dick, Songs, p. 124 (tune from SMM), p. 397 (note); also notes, 17 and 88. legman theorises that Buchan’s text is the ur-form (original) of all these. see also Kinsley, Burns, pp. 1413–14. ewan Maccoll sings a ‘family’ tune on his record Songs from robert Burns’ Merry Muses of caledonia (Baton rouge, Folk lyric records, 1962, dionysus label d1). see also legman, MMc (1965), p. 212; The Horn Book, pp. 213–17. cf. Fergusson’s Poems (sTs), ii, 96; note, 272–73). Tune in cPc (1756) as above, Bremner’s reels (1760), p. 76; campbell’s reels (1778), p. 18; Aird (1782), i, no. 44; and SMM. roud 8516. cOMMenTAry 247 76. The farto-turdoniad: a Ballad (p. 178) Tytler (c. 1747–1803), known as ‘Balloon Tytler’ around edinburgh for having made the first British attempt at a manned balloon ascent à la Montgolfier in 1784, wrote most of the 2nd edn of the encyclopædia Britannica and many other articles and books, but was generally unsuccessful and emigrated to the usA, escaping a warrant for sedition. in st. 1 Tytler refers to the greek legend of the repopulation of the earth after the Flood; the survivors, deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, cast stones behind them, on the instructions of the oracle of Themis. deucalion’s became men, Pyrrha’s, women. in stanzas 4 and 5 Tytler is referring to Virgil’s 1st eclogue, where the shepherds Tityrus and Meliboeus (note the spelling) have a conversation about their respective lives. The Virgil connection is a clue to its genesis: Tytler had ventured in 1781 to translate Virgil’s eclogues into heroic couplets. he only completed four of the ten, which were printed by himself and sold by elliot in Parliament square (one of the group involved in the encyclopædia Britannica). Fergusson’s biography of Tytler gives some specimens of the rather turgid rendition, including his prim version of eclogue ii, rendering formosum pastor corydon ardebat Alexin as ‘young corydon for fair Alicia burn’d’ etc. The book was dedicated to a Mr little of liberton; Fergusson observes: What Mr. little thought of the eclogues can only be imagined, though it is to be hoped that he brought himself to acknowledge a complimentary copy politely. in another quarter they had no such reception. Tytler confidently sent a copy to a critic whose identity Meek [his first biographer] conceals under initials and who returned it with contemptuous rudeness. Tytler was stung. he retorted at once with a ‘ludicrous poem’ which has not [n.b.] survived. Meek says it was ‘as coarse as the reply which gave it birth, and full of the most pointed satire’. [Fergusson (1972), pp. 56–58.] This, then, must be the poem Buchan has rescued. This page intentionally left blank 249 TABle OF TAle TyPes And MOTiFs —with number and title of the item types ATu 153, (‘The gelding of the Bear’); 5. The Baker o’ the town o’ ayr ATu 571 B, (‘lover exposed’); 22. The lancashire farmer ATu 1091, 38. The di’el and the feathery wife ATu 1133, (‘Making strong’), version 1; 5. The Baker o’ the town o’ ayr ATu 1359, 65. The Sailor’s frolic ATu 1379, ‘Wife deceives husband with substituted Bedmate’; 24. The cuckold ATu 1360c, 36. dickie Melvin ATu 1419g, ‘The clergyman’s Breeches’; 23. The horned Millar ATu 1419J*, ‘husband sent for water’; 36. dickie Melvin; 73. The absent farmer ATu 1420A, ‘The Broken (removed) Article’; 33. The lady and poor Pedlar ATu 1441, ‘Old Woman substitute’; 24. The cuckold ATu 1441A*, ‘The inked girl’; 68. fun upon fun ATu 1735A, ‘The Wrong song’; 70. The Parson’s fat wedder Motifs d1171.13, 22. The lancashire farmer d1413.8, 22. The lancashire farmer d2171.5, ‘Persons magically stick together’; 22. The lancashire farmer J2301, ‘gullible husbands’; 33. The lady and poor Pedlar J2675, ‘Bungling rescuer caught by crab’; 8. The crab fish K216.2, ‘Bringing the devil an unknown animal’; 38. The di’el and the feathery wife K241, ‘The castration bargain: wife sent’; 5. The Baker o’ the town o’ ayr K1217, ‘Tale of the basin’; 22. The lancashire farmer K1223, ‘Mistress deceives lover with a substitute’; 68. fun upon fun K1223.2/3, 24. The cuckold K1311, ‘seduction by masking as woman’s husband’; 65. The Sailor’s frolic 250 TABle OF TAle TyPes And MOTiFs K1317.1, 24. The cuckold K1321, ‘seduction by man disguising as woman’; 54. a yorkshire tale K1362, 27. The astrologer K1514.4.2.1, ‘cuckold husband hides under bed’; 65. The Sailor’s frolic K1521.6, ‘husband busied with performing task while paramour escapes’; 36. dickie Melvin ; 73. The absent farmer K1543, ‘husband unwittingly instrumental in wife’s adultery’; 54. a yorkshire tale K1544, 24. The cuckold K1551, ‘husband returns home secretly and spies on adulteress and lovers’; 65. The Sailor’s frolic K1556, (‘Old hildebrand’); 36. dickie Melvin K1581.1, 33. The lady and poor Pedlar K1631, 68. fun upon fun K1843.2.3, 24. The cuckold 251 glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs (The number in parentheses is the song number in which the word occurs.) abscond – hidden (71) ava’ – at all (31) ae – one (7); also aye (2) afore – before (4) a-jee – ajar (26) ance – once (11) an’ – and (4) ance – once (4) ane – one/an (6) anither – another (2, 4) Anster – Anstruther in Fife (2) as seen’s – as soon as (4) atween – between (7) aught – possession; ‘best aught’, dearest possession (4) auld – old (4, 6, 7) awa’ – away (7) aye – one, the same (2); always, continually (7) back it winna bow – ‘my back will not bend’, i.e., she is big with child (7) bairn – child (72) bairntime – childbed, lying–in (7) baith – both (3, 5, 7) bands – leather bands on the door, acting as hinges (41) bane – bone (8) Bangour – Bangor, the psalm tune (72) bannocks – oatcakes (1) bare – bore, carried (7) barked – tanned (1) 252 glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs bear – hardy but inferior barley, with four rows of grain on the head (18) ben – through (from the inner rooms of the house) (17) beuck – book (7) bide – bear, tolerate (7) biggit – built (as a nest) (4) bikkin – bodkin (30) birse – bristles (1) blate – bashful (4) blint – blinded (10) boddom – bottom (17) boo – bow, bend (7, note) bouck, bouk – bock, act of vomiting (1, 4) lats three boucks – pukes three times (4) breech – [archaic] behind, buttocks (76) brose – oatmeal mixed with boiling water or milk (salt and butter added) (30, 37) browen – brewed (16) brunt – burnt (14) budget – parcel (of tools) (17) but(t) an’ ben – through(out) the house (26, 30) buttock-rent – fornication fine (26) ca’ – call (2); ca’d – called (4) ca’ – drive/cause to move (6, 17); ca’in – driving, hammering (17) carle, carlie – old man (13, 73) caul’, cauld – cold (4, 15) cavels – lots (33); keist the cavels, ‘cast lots’ chalmer pat – chamber pot (8) chamer – chamber, room (7) chapman – peddler, hawker (34) cheap – trade (1) cinque-trey – dice throw of five and three (59) claes, claise – clothes (5, 23) clapped, clappit – hugged (20), fondled (13) close-stool – commode (52, 76) clout – mend (17) cluice – sluice (74) cod – bag or husk (e.g. pea pod), therefore scrotum (5); pillow (7) coft – bought (48) [n.b. error – should be ‘lost’] coggin – wedging (74) commisar – judge in a commissariat court (23) corse – corpse, body (5) cottar – farm labourer (75) couter – coulter, the vertical iron blade of a ploughshare (6) cow – intimidate (39) cow the orratie – a scolding (18) crack – chat (39) crackshop – whorehouse (64) cricket – foot-stool (52) (scots form crackie or crackett) glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs 253 crispin – shoemaker (26) (from st crispin, patron saint of shoemakers) crowdie – thick gruel (39) cummers – wives, gossiping women (7) cunningman – conjuror (22, 27) cuttie stool – stool for fornicators in church (37, 39) daddie – father (7) dall – daw (the bird), hence = ‘penis’ (22) dane – done (15) (e. Angus/Kincardineshire dialect) dang – thumped (34) daud – thump, beat (39) daurna – dare not (26) dawtie – darling (39) dee – do (8) (north-east dialect) diel – devil (1) diel be aff, gin e’er ye win – there’ll be no devil before ever you gain admittance (28) dielfu’ – devilish (7) dine – ‘dinner’, hence any food (33) ding – deal a blow, strike (17, 25) dinna – don’t (2) doup – arse, buttocks (2 [note], 5) downa do’s – impotence, exhaustion of old age (30 n.) dree – endure, but here ‘manage’ (17) drum – (the proprietor of) drum in Aberdeenshire (13) durk – lit. ‘(stab with a) dirk’, i.e., ruin, frustrate (39) durstna – dared not (2) dyke – earthen or stone wall (7) e’e – eye (1) ein – Oyne, a town in the garioch of Aberdeenshire (1) eiver – workhorse (6) (usual form aiver) eke – extension, enlargement (19) ellesins – awls (1) elvan – a one-ell measuring rod (3) eneuch – enough (7, 38) fa’ – fall (9) fair – market (5) fair me mat-fa thee – well may you be (21) fairfa – blessings on (2, 18) (lit. ‘good befall’) fan’ – found (4) fash – bother, be inconvenienced (72) faul’ – fold (15) faut – fault (25) fesh – fetch (7) fiel – feel or taste (26) fin’ – find (2) fleed – flood (8) (north-east dialect) flet – complained (72) (past tense of flyte, scold, rail) 254 glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs fley – affright (9); fley’d – frightened (5, 13) fock – folk (30) for – ‘where’, north-east pronunciation (8, 75) forbye – besides (5) fou – full (1); fou fain – gladly (28) Foul fa’ – devil take (13) fousome – foul-tasting, nauseous (39) frae – from (5) frisky-huff – a sexual game (64) Fyvie – town nW of Aberdeen (1) fyling – dirtying (14) ga’d – galled, worthless (6) gae – go (1, 7); gaed, gied – went (1, 5, 7, 15) gaed – gave (1) (variant form of gied) gae’r a scoup upo’ the doup – gave her a slap on the buttocks (2) gar – make (30); gars – makes (20); gart – made (9) garten – garter (18) gat from them – got away (7) geneva – gin (48) gied – gaed, went (15) giff-gaff – mutual help (ded.) gin – if (1, 2, 39, 51) girdin’ – driving, pushing, hence copulating (37) gled – hawk, buzzard or kite (41) glower’d – scowled (13) gnew – gnawed (4) gossipers – friends (3) gowdie – gold (39) grat – wept (28) greets – weeps (28, note) groat – fourpenny piece (14) grumph – grunt (1) grunt – snout (4) gryces – piglets (4) gude – good (6, 7); gude gaen – good-going, well-running (6) gudeman – husband (73) gueed – good (8); gueedly – goodly, respectable (10); the n.e. form, also spelt gweed. gully-knife – large knife (1) had – haud, ‘hold’, hold on (1, 5, 7) hae – have (4, 5, 7) hairt – heart (2) hairy groat – harry groat, fourpenny piece coined under henry Viii (48) hame – home (4) hark – snort, grunt (1) harrow bulls – crossbars or spars on a harrow (34) havel – ? (41) glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs 255 hay – reel, figure of eight in a country dance (59) het – hot (4) heuch – cliff (6) himsell – himself (1) hinna – have not (15) hoast – cough; ‘before that ye hoast’, without delay, immediately (15) ho(u)boy – oboe (sexual metaphor) (42); commonly played for wedding marches (60) houghmagandy – fornication (39) how – howe, hollow (39) howdie wife – midwife (7, 39) i doubt – i fear, suspect (39) i wyt – i wot = ‘i can tell you, indeed’ etc. (13) ill – harsh (7) intil – into, inside (1, 4) iry – eerie, unwell (60) is to – goes to (5) ither – other (2) Jerquer in piss (49) – Jerquer = ‘searcher, customs examiner’, but its significance here is not clear. jirk – trick (15) joefat – sweetheart (25) jot – little bit, a ‘job’ now and then (14, 74) keepit – kept (72) ken – know (2) kening – knowing; nae kening (n.e. dialect), ‘not knowing’ (2) kent – knew (10, 8); kentna – didn’t know (39, 72) kiest – cast, threw (16, 31, 33); kiest an e’e – cast an eye (26) kill – kiln (30, 74) kilt – kilted, tucked up (37) kist – kissed (20) knap – hillock (15) knock – a beetle used for beating items in bleaching (34) knot – lump (1) kye – cattle (15) lap – leapt, jumped (7) lammy – lamb (6) lang – long, a long time (2); langed – longed (15) lasts – shoemaker’s forms (1) lat – let (2) lave – rest (30); whistle o’er the lave o’t = don’t bother about the rest of it, here used to mean ‘you know what’, i.e., fornication (26) lawin – reckoning, bill (40) leal on – bless (35) leave-a-lane – all alone (4) leavens – leavings (39) lee – lea, meadow (10) 256 glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs len’ – bring, fetch (4) less – lace (10) leuch – laughed (7, 9) leuder – mill-stone lever (74) leys – lea, grassland (18) lighted – got down (5) lingels – shoemaker’s threads (4) loan – strip of grassy land (eng. lane), common grazing ground (7) loon – fool; played the loon, ‘indulged in sexual activity’ (2); rascal (7) loot – let out (7); loot – let (41) looted – arose (8) loup – leap, throb (7, 39) lug – ear (39); tug, pull (64) lys – lies (7) mair – more (4) Margery-cree – a dance (59) marrow – peer, equal (21) mat – may (21, 25) (form of mote) maun – must (4, 72) meikle – much (2 n.) merk – silver coin, worth 13_ d. sterling (15, 17) Mess – Master (of Arts), minister (72) midden head – top of the garbage heap (4) mider – mother (30) mill e’e – hole taking meal to the bin (74) mind – remember (39) minnie – mother (10, 18) mist – missed (7) month: day one month – in one month (5) mow’d – fornicated (with) (intro., n. 13) mutch – linen hood or nightcap (7) mither – mother (2) mot – mound of earth (74) mou’ – mouth (1) muckle – large (1) mu(l)ture – the toll for grinding, generally a share of the grain (74); ‘mill and multure free’ means ‘at no cost’ (24) mysell – myself (72) nae – not (2, 5) (dialect); no (nae mair – no more) (7) neat – trim (7) needna – need not (3, 72) neigour – lout (39) neiper – neighbour, bedfellow (28) new deer – town n.W. of Aberdeen (1) nicetie – formality (7) nickie – Old nick, the devil (5) glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs 257 night: the night – tonight (4) o’t – of it (7) ower – over (4, 6) pass-par-tout keys – passkeys (49) pat – put (7) pelf – money (10) piggin awl – pegging awl, one for making holes for pegs in shoes (26) pike staff – a long walking stick or staff with a spike on the end for use on rough ground or icy roads (8) pin – humour, disposition (71) p—tle – pintle, penis (75) [pishes] – pisses (8) pistol – pestle (33) pit – put, push (6) plack – small coin (= one-third of a penny sterling) (34) plaister – poultice, medication, treatment (18, 39) pleuch – plough (6) pow – poll, head (10) prick-louse – tailor (59) pried – tasted (30,72) prieve – prove, try (20) prin – pin (1) prinkle – young coal-fish (75) protty – pretty, well-made (13) rack stock – last (1) raise – rose (8) ratifia – ratafia, a sweet cordial (57) rax – reach, tug (25) re-tour, set like a – worth a deal of money (26) rive – tear at (3) riven – torn (75) roan – rouen (49) roset – rosin (39) rowing o’ me – rolling about, i.e., having sex with me (7) rugged, ruggit – pulled, tugged (7, 22) sae – so (2, 5) sair – harshly (2) saleet – salute (10) sanna – shall not (8, 10) sark – shirt (1, 31) saul – sold (4) saut – salt (10) sax – six (1) scabbit – mangy (12) scaith – blame (16) scawl – scold (30) 258 glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs sconce – (crown of) the head (76) seen – soon (4) sen’ – sent (4) sessioned – ‘to session’ = to call (a betrothed couple) before the Kirk session (the first court in the Presbyterian church) in order to record their intention to marry (15) sharping – sharpening (1) shaw – show (7) sheen – shoes (4, 18) shew – sew (30) shiel – eject when husking (74) shite – shit (76) shoot – shout (37) sic – such (in all senses) (3) sin’ – since (5) sinsyne – since (10, 72) skelpit – smacked, slapped (2 [note]) skitter – void liquid excrement (76) slaes – ?? (11) [ – most likely a Buchan error for ‘claes’, clothes; but cf. DoSt slay, ‘an instrument used in weaving to beat up the weft’] slee – sly (26) sock – ploughshare (6) soutter – souter or sowter, shoemaker, cobbler (1, 4) sower – sour (4) span – spun: wove (14) spawl – limb (30) spever – trouser fly (4) spew – vomit (1, 4) sprent – spring (7) stane – stone, testicle (5, 6); took the stanes – castrated (5) stook – a shock of cut sheaves of grain (18) stouth – theft, stealing, robbery (13) strae bread – a straw’s breadth (18) syne – then; in time (2, 7) taen the road – left town (2) tag – length of flesh or muscle, i.e., penis. (21) tare – tore (30) tee – too (6) tether – noose (1) thrang – busy, crowded (intro. n. 13) threave – 24 sheaves of grain (18) till – towards (6) tin’d – ? probably ‘tunned’, i.e., ‘put (ale) in a barrel’; cf. DoSt s.v. Tun. (14) tinning scale – ? (14) scale is a saucer-like scoop. tout – ailment, indisposition (39) trance – passage, lobby (17) treadle – lever worked by the foot on a loom (11) glOssAry OF scOTs WOrds And ArchAisMs 259 trepan’d – tricked, entrapped (64) tresser – trestle (1) trindles – cog-wheels in the mill gears (6) turnin tree – wooden stirring stick (4) Turriff – town nW of Aberdeen (1) twin’d (o’) – severed, parted (from) (intro. n. 13) waes me – woe is me (4) watna fou – know not how (1) waur – worse (12) waur – ware, seaweed (75) wearied wi’ – tired of (2) weary fa’ ye – may the deuce (devil),/ trouble befall you, i.e., ‘damn you!’ (7) wedder – wether, gelded male sheep (70) well’s me on – i take pleasure in (10) whirleywha: – thingamajig, plaything (31) whittles – knives (1) wi’ – with (1, 2); wi’ bairn – with child, pregnant (2) winch an’ wannock – prance (1) windlestraes – thin stalks of grass (9) woo’ – wool (12, 15) wou’d to – would go to (7) wyle – wile, trick (7); lure (70) wyme – womb, belly (7) wynd – alley (25) yade – jade (23) yall – yell (39) yark – beat, strike (39) yellow hair – blond (7) ye’se – you will] (5, 7) ye’se be – you will be (2) yestreen – yesterday (evening) (5, 20) yett – gate (17) yiel – barren ewe or cow [a form of yeld] (26) This page intentionally left blank 261 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed [Aird, James], Aird’s selection of Scotch, english, irish, and foreign airs: Adapted for the fife, violin, or german flute, 6 vols (glasgow: J. McFaden, [1782–c.1800]). Allan’s illustrated edition of tyneside Songs and readings, rev. edn (newcastle-upon-Tyne: Thomas & george Allan, 1891). Anderson, Walter, Der Schwank vom alten Hildebrand: eine vergleichende Studie, eesti Vabariigi Tartu Ülikooli toimetused. B. humaniora, 21, no. 1, & 23, no. 1 (dorpat, 1931). Anderson, William, The Scottish nation; or, the Surnames, families, literature, Honours, and Biographical History of the People of Scotland, 3 vols (edinburgh, london: Fullarton, 1868). Apollo’s cabinet, 2 vols (liverpool: J. sadler, 1757). [Ashbee, h. spencer] Pisanus Fraxi (pseud.), index librorum Prohibitorum. Bio-Biblioicono -graphical and critical notes on curious, Uncommon and erotic Books (privately published: 1877; repr. edn, new york: Jack Brussel, 1962, with introduction by gershon legman, ‘“Pisanus Fraxi” and his Books’, pp. 5–51). B. c. folklore (Journal of the British columbia Folklore society). Babad, harry, roll Me over (new york: Oak, 1972). [To be used with great caution – riddled with misprints.] Bagford Ballads, The, 2 vols, ed. by J. Woodfall ebsworth (hertford: Ballad society, 1876– 80; repr. new york: AMs, 1968). Ballad Minstrelsy of Scotland, The: romantic and Historical: collected and annotated, new and revd edn (Paisley: gardner, 1893). [Preface dated at glasgow, March, 1871. On the same lines as The Songs of Scotland chronologically Arranged. Probably by Peter ross.] Bannatyne garland, see Plesand garland, Ane. Bannatyne Manuscript writtin in tyme of pest 1568, The, [by george Bannatyne], ed. by W. Tod ritchie, scottish Text society new series 22–23, 4 vols ([edinburgh]: W. Blackwood for scottish Text society, 1928–1930). Baskerville, charles read, The elizabethan Jig and related Song Drama (chicago: university of chicago Press, 1929; repr. edn, new york: dover, 1965). Beggar’s Benison see records . . . 262 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed Béroalde de Verville, le Moyen de Parvenir (1616), ed. André Tournon and hélène Moreau, facsimile edn (Aix-en-Provence: Presses de l’université de Provence, 1984). Berthier, Jean-edel, 1000 chants, 3 vols (Paris: les Presses d’ile de France, 1972–1979). Bodleian library Broadside Ballads, http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ballads/ [accessed 20 May 2009]. Book of Scottish Ballads, Book of Scottish Songs (1875) see Whitelaw. Bothy Ballads, scottish Tradition no. 1, Tangent records, 12–inch lP, TngM 109, 1971; reissued, greentrax, cdTrAX9001. Boulton, harold, see Macleod, A. c. Boureau, Alain, The Myth of Pope Joan, trans. by lydia g. cochrane (chicago: university of chicago Press, 2001). Originally published as la papesse Jeanne (Paris: Aubier, 1988; Flammarion, 1993). [American edn is revised and updated.] Bracciolini, Poggio, (1380–1459), The facetiae of Poggio and other Medieval Story-tellers, trans. by edward storer (london: g. routledge; new york: e. P. dutton, [1928]). Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and fable, centenary edn, rev. by ivor h. evans (new york: harper & row, 1981). Bronson, Bertrand h., ‘Mrs. Brown and the Ballad’, california folklore Quarterly, 4 (1945), 129–40. ———, The traditional tunes of the child Ballads, with their texts, according to the extant records of great Britain and America, 4 vols (Princeton: Princeton university Press, 1959–1972). Brown, Mary ellen, The Bedesman and the Hodbearer: The epistolary friendship of francis James child and William Walker, elphinstone institute Occasional Publications, 2 (Aberdeen: Aberdeen university Press for the elphinstone institute, 2001). ———, ‘The street laureate of Aberdeen: charles leslie, alias Musle Mou’d charlie, 1677– 1782’, in carol l. edwards and Kathleen B. Manley, narrative folksong, new Directions: essays in Appreciation of W. edson richmond (Boulder, col.: Westview Press, 1985), pp. 362–78. ———, William Motherwell’s cultural Politics (lexington: university Press of Kentucky, 2001). Buchan, david, The Ballad and the folk (london: routledge and Kegan Paul, 1972; new edn, east lothian: Tuckwell Press, 1997). [see especially chap. 16, pp. 205–22, ‘The Peter Buchan controversy’.] ———, ‘lady isabel and the Whipping Boy’, Southern folklore Quarterly, 34, no. 1 (March 1970), 62–70. [A rejoinder to the attack on Peter Buchan by nygard, q.v.] ———, see glenbuchat. Buchan, norman, 101 Scottish Songs (glasgow & london: collins, 1962). Buchan, Peter, Ancient Ballads and Songs of the north of Scotland, Hitherto Unpublished, With explanatory notes by Peter Buchan, 2 vols (edinburgh: laing and stevenson, 1828; new edn, edinburgh: William Paterson, 1875). [The pagination differs, see Appendix 1]. ———, Ancient Scottish tales: An unpublished collection made by Peter Buchan, introduction by John A. Fairley, reprinted from the transactions of the Buchan field club (Peterhead, 1908; repr. edn, darby, Pa.: norwood editions, 1973). ———, gleanings of Scotch, english, and irish, Scarce old Ballads, chiefly tragical and Historical; Many of them connected with the localities of Aberdeenshire, and to be found in no other collection extant, With explanatory notes by Peter Buchan (Peterhead: BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed 263 printed by P. Buchan, and sold by lewis smith, Aberdeen, 1825; repr. edn, Aberdeen: d. Wylie and son, 1891). Burns, robert, The Poems and Songs of robert Burns, ed. by James Kinsley, 3 vols [paged continuously] (Oxford: clarendon Press, 1968). [With music.] ———, The complete Works of robert Burns: containing his Poems, Songs, and correspondence, with life and notes, critical and Biographical, by Allan cunningham, and many notes by lord Byron, Thomas campbell, Thomas carlyle, lord Jeffrey, T. landseer, lockhart, sir Walter scott, Professor Wilson, Wordsworth, etc., 2 vols (edinburgh: Thomas c. Jack, 1st edn 1834; 2nd edn 1835; this edn, 1850[?]). ———, The Poetry of robert Burns, ed. by W. e. henley and T. F. henderson, centenary edn, 4 vols (edinburgh & london: T. c. & e. c. Jack, 1896). ———, see Johnson, James, Scots Musical Museum. ———, see Merry Muses, and James c. dick. Burton, John hill, The Book Hunter, new edn (edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1885). caledonian Pocket companion, see Oswald, James. capelle, Pierre, la clé du caveau (Paris: the author, 1816) [Centnouvelles nouvelles, les]. one Hundred Merrie and Delightsome Stories, right pleasaunt to relate in all goodly companie by way of joyaunce and jollity, trans. by robert B. douglas (Paris: carrington, 1899); other trs., see r. h. robbins, ed., The Hundred tales (les cent nouvelles nouvelles) (new york: crown, 1960); The one Hundred new tales, trans. by J. B. diner, garland library of Medieval literature, series B, vol. 30 (new york & london: garland, 1990). [Attributed to Antoine de la sale.] chambers, e. K., early english lyrics, Amorous, Divine, Moral and trivial, ed. by Frank sidgwick (london: sidgwick and Jackson, 1937). chambers, robert, The Popular rhymes of Scotland, 3rd edn with additions (edinburgh: W. & r. chambers, 1847); new edn (edinburgh & london: chambers, 1870). ———, The romantic Scottish Ballads: Their epoch and Authorship (edinburgh: chambers, 1859). ———, The Scottish Songs, 2 vols (edinburgh: Wm Tait, 1829). ———, The Songs of Scotland Prior to Burns: With the tunes (edinburgh & london: W. & r. chambers, 1862). chappell, William, The Ballad literature and Popular Music of the olden time, new intro. by Frederick W. sternfeld, 2 vols (new york: dover, 1965). [repr. of edn of 1859, continuously paginated.] ———, A collection of national english Airs: consisting of Ancient Song, Ballad and Dance tunes (london: chappell, 1838–1840). ———, old english Popular Music, new edn by h. ellis Wooldridge (1893), 2 vols. in one (new york: Jack Brussel, 1961). [repr. of the somewhat faulty edition, which omits ballad texts wholesale and refurbishes the music, etc. This particular reprint however does append, with separate pagination, a ‘supplement to chappell’s Traditional Tunes’ [sic], by Frank Kidson.] charmer, The: A collection of Songs, chiefly such as are eminent for poetical merit, 4th edn with improvements (edinburgh: J. sibbald, 1782). [See yair.] cheviot, Andrew, Proverbs, Proverbial expressions, and Popular rhymes of scotland, collected and arranged, with intro., notes and parallel phrases (Paisley: gardner, 1896; repr. edn, detroit: gale, 1969). 264 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed child, Francis James, english and Scottish Ballads, 8 vols (Boston: little, Brown, [1857–59]; 2nd edn, 1860). ———, The english and Scottish Popular Ballads, 5 vols (Boston: houghton, Mifflin, 1882–1898; repr. edn new york: dover, 1965); 2nd edn, ed. by Mark F. heiman and laura saxton heiman (northfield, Minn.: loomis house Press, 2001– [in progress]). [see also Brown, Mary ellen.] christie, William, traditional Ballad Airs, 2 vols (edinburgh: edmonston & douglas, 1876–81). collection of old Ballads, A; corrected from the best and most ancient copies extant, with introductions historical and critical, 3 vols (london: roberts and leach, 1723–25; repr. edn, (1872). ed. by Ambrose Phillips. comic Miscellany, The; containing, i. A select collection of only the best english and Scotch songs . . . ii. Humourous and diverting tales . . . iii. The most pointed epigrams. iV. epitaphs, serious and ludicrous. V. riddles. Vi. Bon mots (london: printed for M. cooper, 1756). complaynt of Scotland, The (1549), ed. by James A. h. Murray, early english Text society extra series, 17–18 (london: early english Text society, 1872–73). convivial Songster, The; being a Select collection of the best Songs in the english language [. . .] with the Music prefixed to each Song (london: printed for John Fielding, 1782). cook, davidson. Annotation . . . see dick. cowan, e. J., ed., The People’s Past (edinburgh: Polygon, 1980). [see henderson, hamish.] craig, Adam, collection of the choicest Scots tunes, adapted for the harpsichord or spinnet and within the compass of the voice violin or german flute (edinburgh, 1730). craig, linda christine, ‘The scottish Origins of “Farewell to nova scotia”’, Dalhousie review, 58, no. 3 (1978–1979). crawfurd, Andrew, Andrew crawfurd’s collection of Ballads and Songs, ed. by e. B. lyle, scottish Text society 4th series, 9 & 24, 2 vols (edinburgh: scottish Text society, 1976 & 1996). cray, ed. The erotic Muse (new york: Oak, 1969); 2nd edn, The erotic Muse: American Bawdy Songs (urbana, chicago: university of illinois Press, 1992). cromek, r. h., reliques of robert Burns: consisting chiefly of original letters, Poems, and critical observations on Scottish Songs (london: cadell & davies, 1808). ———, remains of nithsdale and galloway Song: with Historical and traditional notices relative to the Manners and customs of the Peasantry (london: cadell & davies, 1810; new edn, Paisley: gardner, 1880). [Mostly concocted by cunningham.] ———, Select Scotish Songs, Ancient and Modern; with critical observations and biographical notices, by robert Burns, 2 vols (london: cadell & davies, 1810). cunningham, Allan, The Songs of Scotland, Ancient and Modern: with an introduction and notes, historical and critical, and characters of the lyric poets, 4 vols (london: John Taylor, 1825). [see also cromek above.] dauney, William, Ancient Scotish Melodies from a Manuscript of the reign of King James Vi; With an introductory enquiry illustrative of the History of the Music of Scotland (edinburgh: Maitland club, 1838). [The skene Ms.] davidson, Thomas, ‘Prof. child’s Ballad Book’, American Journal of Philology, 5 (1884), 466–78. [review of Part i of child’s eSPB.] day, W. g., ed., The Pepys Ballads, 5 vols (cambridge: d. s. Brewer, 1987). BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed 265 delaunay, Jean-Marc, cahier de chansons du Pays de tulle: répertoire de leon Peyrat (seilhac, limousin: centre régional des musiques traditionnelles en limousin, 2003). dick, James c., ed., The Songs of robert Burns and notes on Scottish Songs by robert Burns [. . .] together with Annotation of Scottish Songs by Burns, ed. by davidson cook, foreword by henry george Farmer (hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates, 1962). [includes dick’s edn of notes, and davidson cook’s supplement, in Burns chronicle 31 (1922). Songs originally appeared 1903; notes 1908.] Dictionary of national Biography. dixon, James henry, early Ballads illustrative of History, traditions, and customs: also, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of england, taken down from oral recitation and transcribed from private manuscripts, rare broadsides, and scarce publications, ed. by robert Bell (london: george Bell & sons, 1877). ———, ed., Scottish traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads (london: Percy society, 1845). donaldson, William, The Jacobite Song: Political Myth and national identity (Aberdeen: Aberdeen university Press, 1988). duncan, rev. James B., folk Songs of Aberdeenshire, ed. by P. n. shuldham-shaw, Journal of the english folk Dance and Song Society, reprint no. 14 (london: eFdss, 1967). [see also greig.] d’urfey, Thomas, Wit and Mirth: or Pills to Purge Melancholy, 6 vols (1719–20); repr. edn with introduction by cyrus l. day, 6 vols. in 3 (new york: Folklore library Publication, 1959). ebsworth see roxburghe Ballads, Bagford Ballads encyclopedia of comic Songs, The: english, Scotch, and irish, both of old times and new, etc. (london: edwards & Knibb, 1819). Farmer, John s., Merry Songs and Ballads, Prior to the Year A.D. 1800, introduction by g. legman, 5 vols (new york: cooper square, 1964). [repr. of 1897 edn.] Fergusson, sir James, of Kilkerran, Balloon tytler (london: Faber, 1972). folk Music Journal (1965– ). [Published by the english Folk dance and song society, supersedes the Journal of the english folk Dance and Song Society.] forbidden fruit: A collection of Popular tales by Popular Authors, including Meitor, Walker, caesar, cowper, turnor, ryder, Wiper, lover, Howitt, Burns. Also the Unexpurgated Poems of robert Burns, known as Burns’ Merry Muses, copied from authentic MSS ([no imprint; possibly glasgow after 1891]). [dialect would place it in Aberdeenshire after 1891. unique copy in the Murison Burns collection, dunfermline Public library. see Merry Muses.] Ford, robert, children’s rhymes, children’s games, children’s Songs, children’s Stories: A Book for Bairns and Big folk, 2nd edn (Paisley: Alexander gardner, 1904). ———, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland, With Many old and familiar Melodies, 2 vols (Paisley, london: Alexander gardner, 1899 & 1901; new edn, 2 vols in one, 1904). Fowke, edith, traditional Singers and Songs from ontario, musical transcriptions by Peggy seeger (hatboro: Folklore Associates; don Mills: Burns & Maceachern, 1965). Fraser, capt. simon, ed., Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the isles (edinburgh, london: the editor, 1816; new edn, inverness: hugh Mackenzie, 1874). Friedman, Albert B., The Ballad revival: Studies in the influences of Popular on Sophisticated Poetry (chicago: university of chicago Press, 1961). frisky Songster, The; Being a Select choice of such Songs as are distinguished for their Jollity [. . .], A new edition (london, 1776). 266 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed Frosch-Freiburg, Frauke, Schwankmären und fabliaux, ein Stoff- und Motivvergleich, göppinger Arbeiten zur germanistik, 49 (göppingen: Alfred Kümmerle, 1971). [see roth, p. 474.] ‘gaelic erotica’, in Kryptadia, 10 (Paris, 1907). gentleman’s Bottle-companion, The (london, 1768). [A collection of eighteenth-century bawdy ballads.] gilchrist, A. g., ‘“red house” and “John Peel”’, Journal of the english folk Dance and Song Society, 4, no. 1 (1941), 80–84. glen, John, early Scottish Melodies: including examples from MSS and early printed works, along with a number of comparative tunes, notes on former annotators, english and other claims, and biographical notices, etc. (edinburgh: J. & r. glen, 1900). [chapter 6 examines the entire contents of SMM, with notes of varying length and detail.] ———, arranger, glen collection of Scottish Dance Music, The: Strathspeys, reels and Jigs, selected from the earliest printed sources, or from the composer’s works, 2 vols (edinburgh: glen, 1891–1895). [The prefatory matter includes an index of tunes published in scotland to 1784, and good bibliographical notes.] glenbuchat Ballads, The, compiled by the rev. robert scott, ed. by david Buchan and James Moreira (Jackson, Ms: university Press of Mississippi in association with the elphinstone institute, university of Aberdeen, 2007). gordon, Joe, The Joe gordon Album, as sung and recorded by the Joe gordon Folk Four (glasgow: J. s. Kerr, [1959]). graham, george Farquhar, The Songs of Scotland, adapted to their appropriate melodies, 3 vols (edinburgh: Wood and co., 1848–1850). [Arrangements by graham, T. M. Mudie, J. T. surenne, h. e. dibdin, Finlay dun, et al.] greig, gavin, folk-Song in Buchan and folk-Song of the north-east, foreword by Kenneth s. goldstein and Arthur Argo (hatboro, Penn.: Folklore Associates, 1963). [reprinted articles by greig, the first from transactions of the Buchan field club, 9 (1906–7), 2–76; the rest contributed to the Buchan observer, december 1907–June 1911 (180 articles, of generally 3 pp. each), reprinted in book form as folk-Song of the north-east (Peterhead: scrogie, 1909, 1914).] ———, last leaves of traditional Ballads and Ballad Airs, ed. by Alexander Keith (Aberdeen: The Buchan club, 1925). ———, ‘lyric Buchan’, in Alexander inkson Mcconnochie, ed., The Book of ellon (ellon: Victoria hall committee, 1901), pp. 84–102. ———, The Subject of folksong: collected Writings on Scottish folk Song, edited by stephen Miller (isle of Man: chiollagh Books, 2000). greig-Duncan folk Song collection, The, ed. by Patrick shuldam-shaw, emily B. lyle, et al. 8 vols (Aberdeen: university of Aberdeen Press [vols. i–iV]; edinburgh: Mercat Press for the university of Aberdeen in association with the school of scottish studies, university of edinburgh [vols V–Viii], 1981–2002). greig, John, Scots Minstrelsie: A national Monument of Scottish Song, 6 vols (edinburgh: T. c. and e. c. Jack, 1893). g[rosart], A. B., ed., The Works of robert ferguson (london: Fullarton, 1851). grose, captain Francis, A classical Dictionary of the Vulgar tongue (london: printed for s. hooper, 1785); repr. edn, ed. with a biographical and critical sketch and an extensive commentary by eric Partridge (new york: Barnes & noble, 1963). [For another edition see lexicon Balatronicum.] BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed 267 gummere, Francis B., The Popular Ballad (london: A. constable; Boston and new york: houghton Mifflin, 1907; repr. edn, new york: dover, 1959). haddington, Thomas hamilton, 6th earl of, Select Poems on Several occasions, by the right Hon. The earl of Harrington [sic], to which are added, The Duke of Argyll’s levee, and Some Ballads, by the late lord Binning (1753; repr. edn, london: printed in 1824). [halliwell, J. O.], A collection of Seventy-nine Black-letter Ballads and Broadsides; printed in the reign of Queen elisabeth, between the years 1559 and 1597, introduction and illustrative notes (london: J. lilly, 1867, 1870). [WBO comments: no editor is named. Most often referred to under the publisher Joseph lilly, but the collection was owned at that time by george daniels and is sometimes referred to as ‘daniels’. A postcard from J. O. halliwell, in answer to a query, is in the Folger shakespeare library copy of the 1867 issue. in it J. O. halliwell states that he had written the notes, and Tho. Wright had written the introduction.] hamilton, see haddington. harker, d[ave] i., songs from the Manuscript collection of John Bell (durham: surtees society, 1985). harland, John, Songs and Ballads of lancashire, Ancient and Modern, 2nd edn, corrected, revised and enlarged by T. T. Wilkinson (london: george routledge and sons, 1875). hecht, hans, in Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und literaturen, 129 (1912– 13), 363–74, and vol. 130 (1913), 57–72. ———, See also herd. henderson, Andrew, Scottish Proverbs, collected and arranged [. . .] with an introductory essay, by W[illiam] Motherwell (edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1832). henderson, hamish, Alias MacAlias (edinburgh: Polygon, 1992); 2nd edn, ed. by Alec Finlay (edinburgh: Polygon, 2004). ———, ‘The Ballad, the Folk and the Oral Tradition’, in e. J. cowan, ed., The People’s Past (edinburgh: Polygon, 1980), pp. 65–101. henderson, T. F., Scottish Vernacular literature:A Succinct History, 3rd rev. edn (edinburgh: John grant, 1910). henley and henderson, see Burns. herd, david, Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs, Heroic Ballads, etc., 2 vols (edinburgh, london: scottish Academic Press, 1973). [repr. of the 1869 edn, which gives the 1776 (2nd ) edn, which was an augmented edn of that of 1769; and in an Appendix prints all the pieces substituted in the 1791 edn for those omitted in the 1776 edn.] ———, Songs from David Herd’s Manuscripts, ed. by hans hecht (edinburgh: Wm J. hay, 1904). hoffmann, Frank, Analytical Survey of Anglo-American traditional erotica (Bowling green: Bowling green university Popular Press, 1973). hogg, James, The Domestic Manners and Private life of Sir Walter Scott (glasgow: J. reid, 1834). ———, The Jacobite relics of Scotland; being the Songs, Airs, and legends, of the Adherents to the House of Stuart, 2 vols (edinburgh: Blackwood, 1819 and 1821). [With music.] holloway, John, and Joan Black, later British Broadside Ballads (lincoln: university of nebraska Press, 1975; london: routledge and Kegan Paul, 1975). [Materials from the extensive Madden collection at cambridge.] 268 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed holme Valley Beagles, songs of the, A fine Hunting Day, 12–inch lP, leader lee 4056. hustvedt, sigurd B., Ballad Books and Ballad Men (cambridge, Mass.: harvard university Press, 1930). Johnson, James, [and robert Burns], The Scots Musical Museum, 6 vols (edinburgh: James Johnson, 1787, 1788, 1790, 1792, 1796, 1803); repr. of 1859 edn, with ‘illustrations of the lyric Poetry and Music of scotland’, by William stenhouse, foreword by henry george Farmer, in 2 vols (hatboro, PA: Folklore Associates, 1962). [Vol. i reprints the songs from the 4–vol. edn of 1853; Vol. ii contains stenhouse’s notes, and, with separate pagination, laing’s Additional illustrations; and indexes.] Jones, louis c., The clubs of the georgian rakes (new york: columbia university Press, 1942). Journal of the folk Song Society (1899–1931). [in 1932 it became The Journal of the english folk Dance and Song Society.] Keith, Alexander, ‘scottish Ballads: Their evidence of Authorship and Origin’, english Association, essays and Studies, 12 (1926), 100–19. [See also greig.] Kennedy, Peter, folksongs of Britain and ireland (london: cassell; new york: Macmillan, 1975). Kidson, Frank, traditional tunes: A collection of Ballad Airs (Oxford: Taphouse, 1891); repr. of pp. 19–174, in William chappell, old english Popular Music (new york: Jack Brussel, 1961). Kinloch, george r., Ancient Scottish Ballads, recovered from tradition, and never before published (london: longman, rees, Orme, Brown, & green, 1827); repr. edn ([norwood, Pa.]: norwood editions, 1972). ———, The Ballad Book (edinburgh: [n.p.], 1827; reprinted by Thomas g. stevenson in four Books of choice old Scotish Ballads (edinburgh: for private circulation, 1868), and revd edn by edmund goldsmid (edinburgh: privately printed, 1885). ———, ‘Burlesque and Jocular Ballads and songs’, Ms at harvard, 25242.12, dated edinburgh, 1827–1829. Kinsley, see Burns. Kryptádia: recueil de documents pour servir à l’étude des traditions populaires (heilbronn: henninger; Paris: h. Welter, 1883–1911). laing, david, Additional illustrations, see Johnson. lang, Andrew, Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy (london: longmans, green & co., 1910). la sale, Antoine de, see capelle. legman, g., The Horn Book: Studies in erotic folklore and Bibliography (new hyde Park, n.y.: university Books, 1964). [see also MMc (1965 edn); and randolph.] lewis, Mary ellen Brown, ‘A Bibliography of Ballads from selected collections of scottish Ballads and songs’ (Phd dissertation in Folklore, university of Pennsylvania, 1968). lexicon Balatronicum: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket eloquence. compiled originally by captain grose [q.v.], and now considerably altered and enlarged, with the Modern changes and improvements, by a Member of the Whip club (london: c. chappel, 1811); facsimile repr. with a foreword by robert cromie (chicago: Follett, 1971). lloyd, A. l., folk Song in england (london: lawrence & Wishart; new york: international Pub., 1967). BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed 269 logan, W. h., A Pedlar’s Pack of Ballads and Songs (edinburgh: William Paterson, 1869). Maccoll, ewan, with Peggy seeger, classic Scots Ballads, Tradition 1051, 12–inch lP record (and audio cd), 1997. ———, folk Songs and Ballads of Scotland (new york: Oak, 1965). ———, Personal choice of Scottish folksongs and Ballads (new york: hargail Music Press, 1962). Mcgibbon, William, A collection of Scots tunes, some with variations for a violin, hautboy or german flute, with a bass for a violincello or harpsichord (edinburgh: [richard cooper], 1742). ———, A Second collection of Scots tunes, some with variations for a violin[,] hautboy or german flute with a bass for a violoncello or harpsichord (edinburgh: richard cooper, 1746). Mackenzie, W. roy, Ballads and Sea Songs from nova Scotia (cambridge, Mass.: harvard university Press, 1928; repr. hatboro, Pa: Folklore Associates, 1963). Maclagan, robert craig, The games and Diversions of Argyleshire (london: david nutt for the Folk-lore society, 1901; repr. new york: Arno Press, 1976). Maclennan, r. J., Scottish nursery rhymes, illus. by louis MacKay (london: A. Melrose, 1909). Macleod, A. c., and harold Boulton, Songs of the north, gathered together from the Highlands and lowlands of Scotland, music ed. by Malcolm lawson, 2 vols (london: cramer, [c. 1890]). [1st ed. by Macleod and Boulton, 2nd ed. by Boulton alone. Vol. i apparently pub. 1885; Vol. ii (n.d.), copyright 1895.] Maidment, James, A Book of Scotish Pasquils 1568–1715 (edinburgh: Paterson, 1868). ———, Ane Pleasant garland of Sweet Scented flowers (edinburgh: stevenson, 1835). [Mostly from a Ms in the Advocates’ library.] ———, A north countrie garland (private limited edn, 1824); repr. edn edited (and ‘revised’) by edmund goldsmid (edinburgh: privately printed, 1884). ———, A Packet of Pestilent Pasquils (edinburgh: [Paterson], 1868). See also stevenson. Maitland folio Manuscript, The, containing poems by Sir richard Maitland, Dunbar, Douglas, Henryson, and others, ed. by W. A. craigie, scottish Text society n.s., 7 and 20, 2 vols (edinburgh, london: Blackwood for scottish Text society, 1919, 1927). Mansfield Manuscript, The: An old edinburgh collection of Songs and Ballads, ed by Frank Miller (dumfries: hunter, Watson & co., 1935). [Ms in hornel library; compiled by elizabeth st. clair, c. 1780.] Marguérite de navarre, l’Heptaméron, ed. by Michel François (Paris: garnier, 1943). Masque, The: a new and select collection of the best english, Scotch and irish songs [. . .] A new edition, with [. . .] additions (london: richardson & urquhart, [1785]). Meade, guthrie T., Jr, ‘The sea crab’, Midwest folklore, 8, no. 2 (1958), 91–100. Merry Muses of caledonia, The, ed. by James Barke and sydney goodsir smith, with a Prefatory note and some authentic Burns Texts contributed by J. delancey Ferguson (edinburgh: privately pub. by M. Macdonald for the Auk society, 1959); 1st American edn (new york: Putnam, 1964); [title page at head states: ‘robert Burns’]; new edn, with introduction and music, by Valentina Bold (edinburgh: luath, 2009). ———, collected and in part written by robert Burns, a new edn, now repr. for the first time in type-facsimile of the unique original, with additional songs from the cunningham Manuscript and other sources, ed. by g. legman (new hyde Park, 270 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed ny: university Books, 1965). [Original publication 1799. This edn includes a partial bibliography of known editions of the work, titled tout court ‘The Merry Muses’, with listing of contents. Of these, that dated ‘1827’ is falsely dated, evidently printed london: hotten, 1872 (127 pp.). That dated 1825 was reprinted as Burns’ Merry Muses in 1885.] ———, The Merry Muses and other Burnsian frolics, an entirely new compendium of scottish songs and fragments from the secret collections of robert Burns, edited, with foreword and explanatory notes, by eric lemuel randall (london: luxor Press, 1966). see also forbidden fruit. Miller, Frank, ed., see The Mansfield Manuscript. Mitchell, [Joseph], Highland fair, The: or, union of the clans. An opera. As it is perform’d at the Theatre-royal, in Drury-lane, by His Majesty’s servants. Written by Mr. Mitchell. With the musick, which wholly consists of select Scots tunes, prefix’d to each song (london: printed for J. Watts, 1731). Moffat, Alfred, fifty traditional Scottish nursery rhymes; being a collection of fifty Scottish nursery rhymes, ballads and songs with their traditional tunes, collected, edited and arranged for voice & piano (london: Augener, [1933]). [each rhyme is given with its tune, some from an old Ms (and some seemingly unique). cited as tSnr.] Montaiglon, Anatole de, and gaston reynaud, eds, recueil général et complet des fabliaux des Xiiie et XiVe siècle, 6 vols (Paris: librairie des Bibliophiles, 1872–1890). Montgomerie, Alexander, The cherrie and the Slae, ed. by h. harvey Wood (london: Faber; edinburgh: Porpoise Press, 1937). [Additional poems: ‘so suete a kis’, and ‘Ane anser to ane helandmanis invectiue’.] ———, The Poems of Alexander Montgomerie, ed. by James cranstoun, scottish Text society, 9–11, and 59 (edinburgh: Blackwood, 1887 and 1910; supplement by stevenson, 1910). Montgomerie, norah and William, Scottish nursery rhymes (london: hogarth Press, 1946). [cited as Snr.] ———, Sandy candy and other Scottish nursery rhymes (london: hogarth Press, 1948). [cited as Sc.] Montgomerie, William, ‘Folk Poetry and robert Burns’, Burns chronicle (1950), 21–29. ———, ‘A Bibliography of scottish Ballad Manuscripts’ (Phd dissertation, university of edinburgh, 1950), published serially in Studies in Scottish literature, 5 (1967), 107 ff. Moss, harold gene, ‘Popular Music and the Ballad Opera’, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 26, no. 3 (1973), 365–82. Motherwell, William, Minstrelsy: Ancient and Modern, with an Historical introduction and notes (glasgow: John Wylie, 1827). [The Appendix, with 5 unnumbered leaves of music, often gives different stanzas from those in the body of the text.] Muir, Willa, living With Ballads (new york: Oxford university Press, 1965). Murray, david, ‘david laing, Antiquary and Bibliographer’, The Scottish Historical review, 11 (July 1914); separately printed (glasgow: J. Maclehose and sons, 1915). new Academy of compliments, The (london: samuel speed, 1669), (Folger library). nicht at eenie: The Bairns’ Parnassus, with wood-engravings by iain Macnab (Warlingham, surrey: samson Press, 1932), limited edn of 170 copies; repr. edn (norwood, Pa.: norwood editions, 1974). [At the end the anon. compiler names dr A. A. W. ramsay as the main contributor. The vast majority of the contents are in Montgomerie, Snr and Sc.] BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed 271 nygard, holger Olof, The Ballad of Heer Halewijn: its forms and Variations in Western europe: A Study of the History and nature of a Ballad tradition (Knoxville, Tenn: university of Tennessee Press, 1958). [second part of ch. V, ‘lady isabel and the elfKnight : the Ballad in great Britain’ (256 ff.) deals with ‘The A and B Variants, with animadversions upon Peter Buchan’ (pp. 297–316). it asserts that the PB texts showing connections to scandinavian ones must be forgeries.] O lochlainn, colm, irish Street Ballads (dublin: Three candles; london: constable, 1939). Olson, W. B., Broadside Ballad index. internet resource, http://www.csufresno.edu/ folklore/Olson/ [accessed 21 May 2009]. O’neill, Francis, Music of ireland (chicago: O’neill, 1903). Opie, iona and Peter, The oxford Dictionary of nursery rhymes (Oxford: clarendon Press, 1951, 1966; 2nd edn, Oxford: Oxford university Press, 1997). Ord, John, The Bothy Songs & Ballads of Aberdeen, Banff & Moray, Angus and the Mearns (Paisley: gardner, 1930). orpheus caledonius, see Thomson, William. Oswald, James, A curious collection of Scots tunes for a Violin, Bass Viol or german flute: With a thorough Bass for the Harpsichord. As also a Sonata of Scots tunes in three Parts, and some Masons Songs, with the Words, for three Voices. to which is added, a number of the most celebrated Scots tunes, set for a Violin or german Flute, by James Oswald, Musician in edinburgh (edinburgh: c. 1739/40; reissued by John simpson, london 1742, and 1790). ———, The caledonian Pocket companion [. . .] containing all the favourite Scotch tunes with variations for the german flute with an index to the whole, 7 vols (london: printed for the author, [1742–1759]). [The original 7 vols were later extended to 12, with separate title pages for each. They were published separately. Abbreviated as cPc.] oxford Dictionary of english Proverbs, 3rd ed, rev. by F. P. Wilson (Oxford: clarendon Press, 1970, 1975). oxford english Dictionary. Palmer, roy, ed., Boxing the compass: Sea Songs & Shanties, revd edn (Todmorden: herron Publishing, 2001). First published as The oxford Book of Sea Songs (Oxford: Oxford university Press, 1986). ———, everyman’s Book of British Ballads (london: dent, 1980). Partridge, Burgo, A History of orgies (new york: Bonanza Books, 1960). Partridge, eric, A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional english, 5th edn, 2 vols in one (new york: Macmillan, 1961). ———, ed., see grose. Paul, William, Past and Present of Aberdeenshire, or reminiscences of seventy years, 2nd edn (Aberdeen: lewis smith, 1881). Pepys Ballads, The, 1553–1702, ed. by hyder e. rollins, 8 vols (cambridge, Mass.: harvard university Press, 1929–32). [now superseded by the day vols (q.v.); and available online at: http://emc.english.ucsb.edu/ballad_project/ [accessed 24 May 2009]. Percy Folio, loose and Humorous Songs (1868), ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall, introduction by John greenway, repr. edn (hatboro, Pa.: Folklore Associates; london: herbert Jenkins, 1963). Pettitt, Thomas, ‘Mrs. Brown’s “lass of roch royal” and the golden Age of scottish Balladry’, Jahrbuch für Volksliedforschung, 29 (1984), 13–31. 272 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed Phillips, Ambrose, see collection of old Ballads. Pills to Purge Melancholy, see d’urfey. Pinto, V. de sola and A. e. rodway, The common Muse: Popular British Ballad Poetry from the 15th to the 20th century (london: chatto & Windus, 1957; paperback edn, harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965). Playford, John, The english Dancing Master (1650), 10th edn ([london]: printed by J. heptinstall, for samuel sprint at the Bell in little-Britain, and h. Playford at his shop in the Temple-change, or at his house in Arundel-street in the strand, 1698). Plesand garland, Ane, Being ane lytill and Merrie conceited geste callit Ye coirne-clyppis. Schawing howe ane zoung clerke mett with ane maidene, and ye misaduenturis quhilk befell unto yaime yairthrow. Being profitabill to be read, for ye mair sikker eschewing of ye lyke mischaunces in tymes to cum. sanct Androis, imprentit be robert lekpreuik. [i.e., Bannatyne garland no. 11 (edinburgh: Bannatyne club, 1826). A revised version (same year, evidently) forms garland 12.] Purslow, Frank, Marrow Bones: english folk Songs from the Hammond and gardiner MSS (london: eFds Publications, 1965). ———, The Wanton Seed: More english folk Songs from the Hammond and gardiner MSS (london: eFds Publications, 1968). ramsay, A. A. W., see nicht at eenie. ramsay, Allan, The tea-table Miscellany (edinburgh: printed by Mr Thomas ruddiman, for Allan ramsay, 1724); repr. of 14th edn, 2 vols (glasgow: Forrester, 1876). [see stuart.] randall, eric lemuel, see Merry Muses. randolph, Vance, roll Me in Your Arms: ‘Unprintable’ ozark folksongs and folklore, Vol. i, Folksongs and Music, ed. with an introduction by g. legman (Fayetteville: university of Arkansas Press, 1992). records of the Most Ancient and Puissant order of the Beggar’s Benison and Merryland, Anstruther (Anstruther, printed for private distribution only, 1892); repr. edn, gems of British social history series, 9, intro. by Alan Bold (edinburgh: Paul harris Publishing, 1982); with Supplement to the Historical Portion of the ‘records . . .’ (Anstruther: 1892). reeves, James, The everlasting circle: english traditional Verse [. . .] from the MSS of S. Baring-gould, H. e. D. Hammond & george B. gardiner (london: heinemann, 1960). ———, The idiom of the People: english traditional Verse [. . .] from the MSS of cecil Sharp (london: heinemann, 1958). renwick, roger de V., recentering Anglo/American folksong (Jackson: university Press of Mississippi, 2001). richards, sam and Tish stubbs, eds, The english folksinger: 159 modern and traditional folksongs (glasgow: collins, 1979). richmond, W. edson., Ballad Scholarship: An Annotated Bibliography (new york: garland, 1989). [riddell, James], Aberdeen and its folk, from the 20th to the 50th year of the present century, by a Son of Bon-Accord in north America (Montreal: dawson Brothers; Toronto: James campbell and son, 1868). ritson, Joseph, Scotish Songs (london: J. Johnson and J. egerton, 1794); repr., 2 vols (glasgow: hugh hopkins, 1869). robbins, r. h., see capelle. BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed 273 [roberts, J.], The Merry-Thought: or, the glass-Window and Bog-House Miscellany (london: J. roberts, [n.d.]; 3rd edn, 1731); repr. edn, Augustan reprint society, 221–22 (los Angeles: William Andrews clark Memorial library, 1982). robertson, James stewart-, see stewart-robertson, James. rogers, charles, The Scottish Minstrel: The Songs of Scotland Subsequent to Burns (edinburgh: William P. nimmo, 1872). ross, J., The Book of Scottish Poems, Ancient and Modern (edinburgh: edinburgh Publishing co., 1884). [The early poems are mostly modernised.] ross, John d., ed., celebrated Songs of Scotland, from King James V to Henry Scott riddell, with Memoirs and notes (new york: W. Pagan, 1887). [no music.] ross, Peter, see The Songs of Scotland chronologically Arranged and The Ballad Minstrelsy of Scotland. roth, Klaus, ehebruchschwänke in liedform: eine Untersuchung zur deutsch- und englischsprachigen Schwankballaden, Freiburger folkloristische Forschungen, 9 (München: Wilhelm Fink, 1977). ———, ‘Peter Buchans “secret songs of silence”: eine wertvolle, bisher unveröffentlichte schottische liederhandschrift aus dem Jahre 1832’, Jahrbuch für Volksliedforschung, 16 (Berlin, 1971), 170–79. roud, steve, The folk Song index and The Broadside index cd-rOM (Maresfield: the author, 2004). Online at the Vaughan Williams library website, http://library.efdss.org/ cgi-bin/home.cgi [accessed 24 May 2009]. [numbers are supplied where possible, even where Buchan’s is the only text.] roxburghe Ballads, The, ed. by William chappell and J. Woodfall ebsworth, 9 vols (hertford, london: the Ballad society, 1869–99). rymour club, Miscellanea of the, 4 vols (edinburgh: the club, 1906–1928). st clair, elizabeth, see Mansfield MS. Scotch Presbyterian eloquence Display’d; or, the folly of their teaching Discover’d, from their Books, Sermons, Prayers, &c., with considerable additions, taken from scarce and valuable MSS &c. (london: 1790). [Written c. 1692 by John Monro and gilbert crokatt, pseudonymously as ‘Jacob curate’.] ———, [Another edn] Scotch Presbyterian eloquence Display’d: or, the folly of their teaching Discover’d, from the Books, Sermons, and Prayers: And some remarks on Mr. rule’s late Vindication of the Kirk, interspers’d with Some genuine Adventures, in love, &c. (rotterdam: Van Anker, 1738: repr. edn, c. 1880). Scots Musical Museum, see Johnson, James. scott, sir Walter, The Journal of Sir Walter Scott, from the original Manuscript at Abbotsford (edinburgh: david douglas, 1890); repr. edn, 2 vols (new york: Burt Franklin, 1970). ———, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, 2 vols (Kelso: printed by J. Ballantyne, for T. cadell, jun. and W. davies, strand, london, and sold by Manners and Miller, and A. constable, edinburgh, 1802); rev. edn, 4 vols in 2 (edinburgh: Adam & charles Black, 1873). [repr. of 1833 edn.] Scottish national Dictionary, The, 10 vols, see http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/index.html [accessed 24 May 2009]. Scottish notes and Queries (Aberdeen: d. Wylie, 1887–1895). [cited as SnQ.] 274 BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed sharpe, charles Kirkpatrick, A Ballad Book (edinburgh: Webster, [1823]); new edn, reprinted with notes and ballads from the unpublished Mss of cKs and sir Walter scott, ed. by david laing (edinburgh and london: W. Blackwood, 1880). See also stevenson. silverman, Jerry, The Dirty Song Book (new york: stein and day, 1982). [no sources given.] simpson, claude M., The British Broadside Ballad and its Music (new Brunswick, nJ: rutgers university Press, 1966). smith, Barke, and Fergusson, see Merry Muses of caledonia, 1959. ‘some erotic Folklore from scotland’, Kryptadia, 2 (heilbronn, 1884), 253–64. Songs of Scotland, The: Vol. i, A collection of one Hundred and ninety Songs, music ed. by J. Pittman and colin Brown, poetry ed. (with notes) by dr charles Mackay, ‘royal edition’ (london: Boosey, [c.1877]). [Vol. ii (143 songs) is ed. by Myles B. Foster.] Songs of Scotland chronologically Arranged, The; with introduction and notes (glasgow: Maurice Ogle, 1871); 2nd edn (glasgow: Alison & ross, 1872). [ed. by Peter ross, ll.d.] speaight, george, Bawdy Songs of the early Music Hall (newton Abbot: david & charles, 1975). spring, ian, ‘The devil and the Feathery Wife’, folklore, 99, no. 2 (1988), 139–45. ———, ‘Why did “the Bridegroom greet”?’, in folk Music Journal, 5, no. 4 (1988), 469–81. ———, The life and Work of Peter Buchan, 1790–1854 (Phd thesis, university of edinburgh, 1990). [not seen: access restricted.] stenhouse, William, illustrations of the lyric Poetry and Music of Scotland (1853) see Johnson. stevenson, Thomas george, ed., four Books of choice old Scotish Ballads, M.Dccc. XXiii–M.Dccc XliV. (edinburgh: reprinted for private circulation, 1868). [includes c. K. sharpe, A Ballad Book, 1823; Maidment, A north countrie garland, 1824; g. r. Kinloch, The Ballad Book, 1827; Maidment, A new Book of old Ballads, 1844. see also Maidment, for goldsmid edn of the 1824 volume.] stewart-robertson, James, The Athole collection of the Dance Music of Scotland, 2 vols (edinburgh: Maclachlan & stewart, [1884]); repr. edn, with introduction by Francis collinson (edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1961). stokoe, John, Songs & Ballads of northern england, harmonised by samuel reay (newcastle-upon-Tyne and london: Walter scott, [1899]; repr. edn 1974). stuart, Alexr, Musick for Allan ramsays collection of Scots songs, set by Alex[ande]r stuart & engrav[e]d by r. cooper (edinburgh: printed and sold by Allan ramsay, [c. 1725]). surenne, J. T., The Dance Music of Scotland: A collection of all the best reels and Strathspeys both of the Highlands and lowlands, 6th edn (edinburgh: Wood, [c. 1860]). Thompson, stith, The folktale (new york: dryden Press, 1946), repr. edn (Berkeley: university of california Press, 1977). ———, Motif-index of folk-literature: A classification of narrative elements in folktales, Ballads, Myths, fables, Medieval romances, exempla, fabliaux, Jest-Books and local legends, rev. & enl. edn, 8 vols (Bloomington: indiana university Press, 1955–1958). ———, and Antti Aarne, The types of the folktale, FF communications, 184, enlarged edn (helsinki: suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1964). [revised edition: see uther.] Thomson, William, orpheus caledonius: A collection of Scots Songs Set to Music by W.t., foreword by henry george Farmer, 2 vols in one (hatboro, Pa: Folklore Associates, 1962). [The music is paged separately.] [Facsimile repr. of 1733 edn.] BiBliOgrAPhy OF WOrKs cOnsulTed 275 touti-nameh, ou les contes du perroquet de Ziay-ed-din nakhchabi, d’après la rédaction de Mohammed Qaderi, trans. by emile Muller, abridged edn (Paris: les Belles lettres, 1934). uther, hans-Jörg, Handbuch zu den ‘Kinder- und Hausmärchen’ der Brüder grimm (Berlin, new york: de gruyter, 2008). ———, The types of international folktales: A classification and Bibliography, FF communications, 133–35, nos. 284–86, 3 vols (helsinki: suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 2004). [An updating of the Aarne-Thompson Types. cited as ATu.] Vocal Miscellany, The: A collection of about four hundred celebrated songs, [. . .] with the names of the tunes prefixed to each song, 2nd edn, 2 vols (london: J. hazard, 1734). Walker, William, The Bards of Bon-Accord, 1375–1860 (Aberdeen: edmond & spark, 1887). ———, Peter Buchan and other Papers on Scottish and english Ballads and Songs (Aberdeen: printed by William smith for d. Wylie, 1915; repr. edn, norwood, Pa: norwood editions, 1973). [see also Brown, Mary ellen.] Watt, William, of east Kilbride, Poems, on Sacred and other Subjects: and songs, humorous and sentimental, 3rd edn (glasgow: printed for the widow of the author, by William eadie, 1860). Watts, John, The Musical Miscellany; Being a collection of choice Songs, Set to the Violin and flute, By the most eminent Masters, 6 vols (london: printed by and for John Watts, at the Printing Office in Wild-court near lincoln’s-inn Fields, 1729–1731). Wehse, rainer, Schwanklied und flugblatt in grossbritannien, Artes Populares, studia ethnographica et folkloristica, 3 (Frankfurt am Main: Peter lang, 1979). Whitelaw, Alexander, The Book of Scottish Song (glasgow: Blackie, 1844); new edn (london, glasgow: Blackie, 1875). ———, The Book of Scottish Ballads (glasgow, edinburgh, london: Blackie, 1845). Whittaker, W. g., north countrie Ballads, Songs and Pipe tunes (london: curwen, 1921). Williams, Alfred, folk-Songs of the Upper Thames (london: duckworth, 1923). Wood, Thomas, ed., The oxford Song Book, collected and arranged by Percy c. Buck & Thomas Wood (london: Oxford university Press, 1931). Wrecks, The: An Anthology of ribald Verse collected at reno (privately printed for subscribers only, [1933]). see http://www.csufresno.edu/folklore/drinkingsongs/html/ books-and-manuscripts/1930s/1933ca-the-wrecks/index.htm [accessed 23 May 2009]. yair, M., The charmer: a choice collection of songs, Scots and english (edinburgh: the author, 1749; 3rd edn, 1765). [see charmer, The.] This page intentionally left blank ...