Elfin Knight- Bell Duncan (Aber) c.1930 Carpenter
[Generic title from Carpenter (The Elfin Knight), from James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/10/124, Cylinder 123, 14:59
Collected from Bell Duncan, who Carpenter called "the greatest ballad singer of all time." She was eighty-two-year-old and lived in a shepherd's cottage at Lambhill in the parish of Insch, Aberdeenshire. Her repertoire goes back from the mid to late 1800s. Listen: https://www.vwml.org/search?q=RN12%20James%20Madison%20Carpenter&is=1
R. Matteson 2018]
"The Elfin Knight," sung by Bell Duncan of Insch, Aberdeenshire about 1930.
"Ye will mak a sark tee me,
Ower the hills a' far awa',
Wi' an' eeless needle wantin' a thread,
For the wind blaws aye my plaid awa'.
"Ye maun wash't in yon water wan
Faur never man saw water rin.
"An' ye maun dry on yon thorn
Faur the sun never shone sin man was born.
"It's O young man, I've a little bit o' land,
Atween the saut seas an' the sand.
"Ye maun ploo it wi' a horn
An' saw it wi' a paper quirn.
"An' ye maun cut it wi' your penknife
An' stook it on the bleed o' yer life.
"An' ye maun trash it wi' your nivs[1],
An' winnie it wi' yer livs
Syne an' ye maun sack it in yer green glivs.
"An' when once ye've done a' this wark
Come ye tee me an' ye'll get your sark."
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1. Irregular stanza