No. 14. Babylon; or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
[Child A gives the name, Baby Lon, as of the banished man, outlaw or robber (revealed as the brother at the end). However Child titles this- Babylon (as a first title), which clearly creates confusion as it is also the title of a city. It should, in my opinion, be changed to: Baby Lon; or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie.
The plot of this ballad as it stands is flawed. In Child A the sister knows she has a "brother in this wood" named Baby Lon. She knows where her brother lives- she knows his name. However, neither the brother or sister can recognize the other--it's only when she gives his name that he know it's his sister. I suppose that, as in Danish A, if the brother was separated from his siblings since early childhood, this may be possible. In Child D he is one of three brothers (he is the "oatlyer"--outlaw, his brother is a minister and the third brother, a ploughman) and when she reveals her brothers' occupations, the outlaw brother knows he's killed his two sisters and falls on his knife. Again, it makes little sense that the outlaw brother and sisters would not recognize each other. This plot loophole could be remedied by a stanza similar to Danish A that indicates the brothers and sisters have been separated since childhood or a stanza could be introduced that they meet in the "dark of night" and can barely see.
The ballad is rarely found in the US and Canada but has had some circulation in New England and the Maritime Providences of Canada (especially Newfoundland).
R. Matteson 2014]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnote (added at the end of Child's Narration)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-F; (Additional text F is from "Additions and Corrections")
5. Endnotes
6. "Additions and Corrections"
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Babylon
A. Roud Number 27: Babylon (67 Listings)
2. Sheet Music: Babylon (Bronson's texts and some music examples)
3. US & Canadian Versions
4. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-F with additional notes)]
Child's Narrative: Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
A. a. 'Babylon; or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 88.
b. 'Babylon; or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie,' Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 88.
c. The same, Appendix, p. xxii, No xxvi.
B. a. Herd's Manuscripts, t, 38, it, 76.
b. 'The Banishd Man,' The Scots Magazine, October, 1803, p. 699, evidently derived from Herd.
C. Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 172.
D. Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 174.
E. 'Duke of Perth's Three Daughters,' Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 212.
[F. “In Gipsy Tents,” by Francis Hindes Groome, p. 143.]
B a is from tradition of the latter half of the eighteenth century; the other copies from the earlier part of this.
Three sisters go out (together, A, B, C, successively, D, E) to gather flowers (A, B, E). A banished man (outlyer bold, D, London lord, E) starts up from a hiding-place, and offers them one after the other the choice of being his wife or dying by his hand.
(A.) 'It 's whether will ye be a rank robber's wife,
Or will ye die by my wee penknife?'
(D.) 'Wiltow twinn with thy maidenhead, or thy sweet life?'
The first and the second express a simple preference for death, and are killed and laid by, "to bear the red rose company" (A). The youngest, in A, says she has a brother in the wood, who will kill him if he kills her. The outlaw asks the brother's name, finds that he himself is the man, and takes his own life with the same weapon that had shed the blood of his sisters. B, C, D have three brothers, the youngest of whom is the banished lord (C), the outlyer bold (D). The story is defective in B, C. In D the outlaw, on finding what he has done, takes a long race, and falls on his knife. The conclusion of A is not so finely tragic. A brother John comes riding by just as the robber is about to kill the third sister, apprehends him by the agency of his three pages, and reserves him to be hanged on a tree,
Or thrown into the poisond lake,
To feed the toads and rattle-snake.
According to the account given by Herd, and repeated by Jamieson, the story of the lost conclusion of B made the banished man discover that he had killed his two brothers as well as his two sisters. This ballad, with additional circumstances, is familiar to all branches of the Scandinavian race.
Danish.
There are many versions from oral tradition, as yet unprinted, besides these two: A, 'Hr. Truels's Døttre,' Danske Viser, III, 392, No 164, there reprinted from Sandvig, Beskrivelse over Øen Møen, 1776: B, 'Herr Thors Børn,' from recent tradition of North Sleswig, Berggreen, Danske FolkeSange, 3d ed., p. 88, No 42.
A. Herr Truels' three daughters oversleep their matins one morning, and are roused by their mother. If we have overslept our matins, they say, we will make up at high mass. They set out for church, and in a wood fall in with three robbers, who say:
Whether will ye be three robbers' wives,
Or will ye rather lose your lives?'
Much rather death, say they. The two elder sisters submitted to their fate without a word; the third made a hard resistance. With her last breath she adjured the robbers to seek a lodging at Herr Truels' that night. This they did. They drank so long that they drank Herr Truels to bed. Then they asked his wife to promise herself to all three. First, she said, she must look into their bags. In their bags she saw her daughters' trinkets. She excused herself for a moment, barred the door strongly, roused her husband, and made it known to him that these guests had killed his three daughters. Herr Truels called on all his men to arm. He asked the robbers who was their father. They said that they had been stolen by robbers, on their way to school, one day; had had a hard life for fourteen years; and the first crime they had committed was killing three maids yesterday. Herr Truels revealed to them that they had murdered their sisters, and offered them new clothes, in which they might go away. "Nay," they said, "not so; life for life is meet." They were taken out of the town, and their heads struck off. B differs from A in only a few points. The robbers ask lodging at Herr Thor's, as being pilgrims. When be discovers their true character, he threatens them with the wheel. They say, Shall we come to the wheel? Our father drinks Yule with the king. They tell him their story, and their father offers them saddle and horse to make their best way off. They reply, "We will give blood for blood," spread their cloaks on the floor, and let their blood run.
Swedish.
'Pehr Tyrsons Döttrar i Wänge.' A, Arwidsson, II, 413, No 166. B, Afzelius, III, 193, No 98: ed. Bergström, 380, No 84, 1. C, Afzelius, 11I, 197: ed. Bergström, 1, 382, No 84, 2, as old as the last half of the seventeenth century. D, Afzelius, 202: ed. Bergström, 1, 384, No 84, 3. E, "C. J. Wessén, De paroecia Kärna (an academical dissertation), Upsala, 1836," Arwidsson, as above, who mentions another unprinted copy in the Royal Library.
A. Herr Töres' daughters overslept matins, dressed themselves handsomely, and set off for mass. All on the heath they were met by three wood-robbers, who demanded, Will ye be our wives, or lose your lives? The first answered: God save us from trying either! the second, Rather let us range the world! the third, Better death with honor! But
First were they the three wood-robbers' wives,
And after that they lost their young lives.
The robbers strip them; then go and ask to be taken in by Herr Töres. He serves them with mead and wine, but presently begins to wish his daughters were at home. His wife sees him to bed; then returns to her guests, who offer her a silken sark to pass the night with them. "Give me a sight of the silken sark," she cries, with prophetic soul: "God have mercy on my daughters!" She rouses her husband, and tells him that the robbers have slain his bairns. He puts on his armor and kills two of them: the third begs to be spared till he can say who were his kin; his father's name is Mires! Father and mother resolve to build a church for penance, and it shall be called Kerna. B, C, D. The girls meet three "vallare," strolling men, and none of them good (C). The robbers cut off the girls' heads on the trunk of a birch (cf. English C 5: "It 's lean your head upon my staff," and with his pen-knife he has tutted it aff): three springs burst forth immediately. They go to the house, and ask the mother if she will buy silken sarks that nine maids have stitched (B). She says:
Open your sacks, and let me see:
Mayhap I shall know them all three.'
The father, in B, when he discovers that he has slain his own sons, goes to the smith, and has an iron band fastened round his middle. The parents vow to build a church as an expiation, and it shall be called Kerna (B, C).
Färöe.
'Torkilds Riim, eller St. Catharine? Vise,' Lyngbye, Færøiske Qvæder, In this form of the story, as in the Icelandic versions which follow, the robbers are not the brothers of the maids. Torkild's two daughters sleep till the sun shines on their beds. Their father wakens them, and tells Katrine she is waited for at church. Katrine dresses herself splendidly, but does not disdain to saddle her own horse.
And since no knave was ready to help,
Katrine bridled the horse herself.
And since no knave was standing about,
Herself put the bit in her horse's mouth.
First she came upon three strollers (vadlarar[1]), then two, then one, and the last asked her whether she would pass the night with him (vera qvöldar vujv) or die. He cut off her head, and wherever her blood ran a light kindled; where her head fell a spring welled forth: where her body lay a church was [afterwards] built. The rover came to Torkild's house, and the father asked if he had seen Katrine. He said she had been at Mary kirk the day before, and asked for a lodging, feigning to be sick. This was readily granted. He went to bed, and Aasa, the other sister, waited upon him. He offered her a silken sark to sleep with him. Aasa asked to see the sark first, and found on it her sister's mark. The fellow went on to offer her a blue cloak and gold crown successively, and on both of these she saw her sister's mark. Aasa bade him good-night, went to her father, and told him that the man they had housed had killed his daughter. Torkild ordered his swains to light a pile in the wood: early the next morning they burned the murderer on it.
Icelandic.
Five Icelandic versions, and the first stanza of two more, are given in Islenzk Fornkvæði, I, 108 ff, No 15, Vallara kvæði.'
The story is nearly the same as in the Färöe ballad. Two of Thorkell's daughters sleep till, after the sun is up (B, C). They wash and dress; they set out for church (C). On the heath they encounter a strolling man, A; a tall, large man, C, E; a horseman or knight, D. He greets them: "Why will ye not speak? Are ye come of elves, or of kings themselves?" A. [Are ye come of earls, or of beggar-churls? B]. They answer, We are not come of elves, nor of kings themselves; we are Thorkell's daughters, and serve Mary kirk. He asks, Will ye choose to lose your life, or shall I rather take you to wife? The choice, they say, is hard: they would rather, die. He kills them and buries them. At night he goes to Thorkell's house, where Asa is alone. He knocks to be let in; Asa refuses; he draws the latch with his deft fingers (A, C, D). He offers Asa a silken sark to sleep with him [and a blue cloak to say nothing, A]. She asked to see the sark, and knew her sisters' work, begged him to wait a moment, went to her father, and told him that the murderer of his daughters was there. Thorkell dashed his harp to the floor [and kicked over the table, D, E]. The murderer in the morning was hanged like a dog, A, B. [Thorkell tore at his hair and cut him down with an elder-stock, C; they fought three days, and on the fourth the villain was hanged in a strap, E, the knight was hanging like a dog, D]. A miraculous light burned over the place where the maids had been buried, A 16, C 27, D 24, E 12. When their bodies were taken into the church, the bells rang of themselves, D.
Norwegian versions of this ballad have been obtained from tradition, but none as yet have been published.
"The mains and burn of Fordie, the banks of which are very beautiful," says Aytoun (I, 159), "lie about six miles to the east of Dunkeld." Tradition has connected the story with half a dozen localities in Sweden, and, as Professor Grundtvig informs me, with at least eight places in the different provinces of Denmark. The Kerna, church of the Swedish ballads, not far from Linköping (Afzelius), has been popularly supposed to derive its name from a Catharina, Karin, or Karna, killed by her own brother, a wood-robber, near its site. See Afzelius, ed. Bergström, II, 329 ff Danske Viser, ill, 444 f.
A is translated by Grundtvig, Engelske og skotske Folkeviser, No 34, p. 216, and, with some slight use of Aytoun, I, 160, by Rosa Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder der Vorzeit, No 18, p. 85. Danish A, by Prior, III, 252.
Footnote:
1. Lyngbye insists on translating vadlarar pilgrims, though his people understood the word to mean robbers. He refers to the Icelandic vallari, which, originally a pilgrim, came to mean a tramp. No one can fail to recognize the character who has become the terror of our rural districts, and to whom, in our preposterous regard for the rights of "man," we sacrifice the peace, and often the lives, of women.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
This ballad, with additional circumstances, is familiar to all branches of the Scandinavian race. The Danish 'Herr Truels' Daughters' (Grundtvig-Olrik, No. 338) may serve as a specimen: — Herr Truels' three daughters oversleep their matins one morning, and are roused by their mother. If we have overslept our matins, they say, we will make up at high mass. They set out for church, and in a wood fall in with three robbers, who say:
'Whether will ye be three robbers' wives,
Or will ye rather lose your lives?'
Much rather death, say they. The two elder sisters submitted to their fate without a word; the third made a hard resistance. With her last breath she adjured the robbers to seek a lodging at Herr Truels' that night. This they did. They drank so long that they drank Herr Truels to bed. Then they asked his wife to promise herself to all three. First, she said, she must look into their bags. In their bags she saw her daughters' trinkets. She excused herself for a moment, barred the door strongly, roused her husband, and made it known to him that these guests had killed his three daughters. Herr Truels called on all his men to arm. He asked the robbers who was their father. They said that they had been stolen by robbers, on their way to school, one day; had had a hard life for fourteen years; and the first crime they had committed was killing three maids yesterday. Herr Truels revealed to them that they had murdered their sisters, and offered them new clothes, in which they might go away. "Nay," they said, "not so; life for life is meet." They were taken out of the town, and their heads struck off.
Child's Ballad Texts A-F;
'Babylon; or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie'- Version A a- Child 14: Babylon or The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
a. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 88.
b. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 88.
c. The same, Appendix, p. xxii, No xxvi, apparently from South Perthshire.
1. There were three ladies lived in a bower,
Eh vow bonnie
And they went out to pull a flower.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
2. They hadna pu'ed a flower but ane,
Eh vow bonnie
When up started to them a banisht man.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
3. He's taen the first sister by her hand,
Eh vow bonnie
And he's turned her round and made her stand.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
4. 'It's whether will ye be a rank robber's wife,
Eh vow bonnie
Or will ye die by my wee pen-knife?'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
5. 'It's I'll not be a rank robber's wife,
Eh vow bonnie
But I'll rather die by your wee pen-knife.'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
6. He's killed this may, and he's laid her by,
Eh vow bonnie
For to bear the red rose company.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
7 He's taken the second ane by the hand,
Eh vow bonnie
And he's turned her round and made her stand.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
8 'It's whether will ye be a rank robber's wife,
Eh vow bonnie
Or will ye die by my wee pen-knife?'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
9 'I'll not be a rank robber's wife,
Eh vow bonnie
But I'll rather die by your wee pen-knife.'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
10 He's killed this may, and he's laid her by,
Eh vow bonnie
For to bear the red rose company.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
11 He's taken the youngest ane by the hand,
Eh vow bonnie
And he's turned her round and made her stand.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
12 Says, 'Will ye be a rank robber's wife,
Eh vow bonnie
Or will ye die by my wee pen-knife?'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
13 'I'll not be a rank robber's wife,
Eh vow bonnie
Nor will I die by your wee pen-knife.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
14. 'For I hae a brother in this wood,
Eh vow bonnie
And gin ye kill me, it's he'll kill thee.'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
15. 'What's thy brother's name? come tell to me.'
Eh vow bonnie
'My brother's name is Baby Lon.'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
16. 'O sister, sister, what have I done!
Eh vow bonnie
O have I done this ill to thee!
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
17 'O since I've done this evil deed,
Eh vow bonnie
Good sall never be seen o me.'
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
18 He's taken out his wee pen-knife,
Eh vow bonnie
And he's twyned himsel o his ain sweet life.
On the bonnie banks o Fordie
-----------------------------
['Banished Man']- Version B; Child 14: Babylon or The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
a. Herd's Manuscripts, 1, 38, II, 76.
b. The Scots Magazine, Oct., 1803, p. 699, communicated by Jamieson, and evidently from Herd's copy.
1. There wond three ladies in a bower,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
And they have gane out to pu a flower.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
2. They had nae pu'd a flower but ane,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
When up has started a banished man.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
3. He has taen the eldest by the hand,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
He has turned her about and bade her stand.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
4. 'Now whether will ye be a banisht man's wife,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
Or will ye be sticked wi my pen-knife?'
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
5. 'I will na be ca'd a banished man's wife,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
I'll rather be sticked wi your pen-knife.'
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
6. And he has taen out his little pen-knife,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
And frae this lady he has taen the life.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie.
7. He has taen the second by the hand,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
He has turned her about and he bad her stand.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
8. 'Now whether will ye be a banisht man's wife,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
Or will ye be sticked wi my pen-knife?'
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
9. 'I will na be ca'd a banished man's wife;
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
I'll rather be sticked wi your pen-knife.'
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
10. And he has taen out his little pen-knife,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
And frae this lady he has taen the life.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
11 He has taen the youngest by the hand,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
He has turned her about and he bad her stand.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
12. 'Now whether will ye be a banished man's wife,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
Or will ye be sticked wi my pen-knife?'
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
13. 'I winnae be called a banished man's wife,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
Nor yet will I be sticked wi your pen-knife.
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
14. 'But gin my three brethren had been here,
Annet and Margret and Marjorie
Ye had nae slain my sisters dear.'
And the dew it lyes on the wood, gay ladie
-----------------------
['Banished Lord']- Version C; Child 14: Babylon or The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
Motherwell's MS., p. 172. From J. Goldie, March, 1825.
1 THERE were three sisters on a road,
Gilly flower gentle rosemary
And there they met a banished lord!
And the dew it hings over the mulberry tree
2 The eldest sister was on the road,
And there she met with the banished lord.
3 'O will ye consent to lose your life,
Or will ye be a banished lord's wife?'
4 'I'll rather consent to lose my life
Before I'll be a banished lord's wife.'
5 'It's lean your head upon my staff,'
And with his pen-knife he has cutted it aff.
6 He flang her in amang the broom,
Saying, 'Lye ye there till another ane come.'
7 The second sister was on the road,
And there she met with the banished lord.
8 'O will ye consent to lose your life,
Or will ye be a banished lord's wife?'
9 'I'll rather consent to lose my life
Before I'll be a banished lord's wife.'
10 'It's lean yonr head upon my staff,'
And with his pen-knife he has cutted it aff.
11 He flang her in amang the broom,
Saying, 'Lie ye there till another ane come.'
12 The youngest sister was on the road,
And there she met with the banished lord.
13 'O will ye consent to lose your life,
Or will ye be a banished lord's wife?'
14 'O if my three brothers were here,
Ye durstna put me in such a fear.'
15 'What are your three brothers, altho they were here,
That I durstna put you in such a fear?'
16 'My eldest brother's a belted knight,
The second he's a . . . . .
17 'My youngest brother's a banished lord,
And oftentimes he walks on this road.'
[An Outlyer Bold']- Version D; Child 14: Babylon or The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
Motherwell's MS., p. 174. From the recitation of Agnes Lyle, Kilbarchan, July 27, 1825.
1 THERE were three sisters, they lived in a bower,
Sing Anna, sing Margaret, sing Marjorie
The youngest o them was the fairest flower.
And the dew goes thro the wood, gay ladie
2 The oldest of them she's to the wood gane,
To seek a braw leaf and to bring it hame.
3 There she met with an outlyer bold,
Lies many long nights in the woods so cold.
4 'Istow a maid, or istow a wife?
Wiltow twinn with thy maidenhead, or thy sweet life?'
5 'O kind sir, if I hae't at my will,
I'll twinn with my life, keep my maidenhead still,
6 He's taen out his we pen-knife,
He's twinned this young lady of her sweet life
7 He wiped his knife along the dew;
But the more he wiped, the redder it grew.
8 The second of them she's to the wood gane,
To seek her old sister, and to bring her hame.
9 There she met with an outlyer bold,
Lies many long nights in the woods so cold.
10 'Istow a maid, or istow a wife?
Wiltow twinn with thy maidenhead, or thy sweet life?'
11 'O kind sir, if I hae't at my will,
I'll twinn with my life, keep my maidenhead still.'
12 He's taen out his we pen-knife,
He's twinned this young lady of her sweet life.
13 He wiped his knife along the dew;
But the more he wiped, the redder it grew.
14 The yonngest of them she's to the wood gane,
To seek her two sisters, and to bring them hame.
15 There she met with an outlyer bold,
Lies many long nights in the woods so cold.
16 'Istow a maid, or istow a wife?
Wiltow twinn with thy maidenhead, or thy sweet life?'
17 'If my three brethren they were here,
Such questions as these thou durst nae speer.'
18 'Pray, what may thy three brethren he,
That I durst na mak so bold with thee?'
19 'The eldest o them is a minister bred,
He teaches the people from evil to good.
20 'The second o them is a ploughman good,
He ploughs the land for his livelihood.
21 'The youngest of them is an oatlyer bold,
Lies many a long night ire the woods so cold.'
22 He stuck his knife then into the ground,
He took a long race, let himself fall on.
------------------
'Duke of Perth's Three Daughters'- Version E; Child 14: Babylon or The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p 212. From Mearnsshire.
1 THE Duke o Perth had three daughters,
Elizabeth, Margaret, and fair Marie;
And Elizabeth's to the greenwud gane,
To pu the rose and the fair lilie.
2 But she hadna pu'd a rose, a rose,
A double rose, but barely three,
Whan up and started a Loudon lord,
Wi Loudon hose, and Loudon sheen.
3 'Will ye be called a robber's wife?
Or will ye be stickit wi my bloody knife?
For pu'in the rose and the fair lilie,
For pu'in them sae fair and free.'
4 'Before I'll be called a robber's wife,
I'll rather be stickit wi your bloody knife,
For pu'in,' etc.
5 Then out he's tane his little pen-knife,
And he's parted her and her sweet life,
And thrown her oer a bank o brume,
There never more for to be found.
6 The Duke o Perth had three daughters,
Elizabeth, Margaret, and fair Marie;
And Margaret's to the greenwud gane,
To pu the rose and the fair lilie.
7 She hadna pu'd a rose, a rose,
A double rose, but barely three,
When up and started a Loudon lord,
Wi Loudon hose, and Loudon sheen.
8 'Will ye be called a robber's wife?
Or will ye be stickit wi my bloody knife?
For pu'in,' etc.
9 'Before I'll be called a robber's wife,
I'll rather be stickit wi your bloody knife,
For pu'in,' etc.
10 Then out he's tane his little pen-knife,
And he's parted her and her sweet life,
For pu'in, etc.
11 The Duke o Perth had three daughters,
Elizabeth, Margaret, and fair Marie;
And Mary's to the greenwud gane,
To pu the rose and the fair lilie
12 She hadna pu'd a rose, a rose,
A double rose, but barely three,
When up and started a Loudon lord,
Wi Loudon hose, and Loudon sheen.
13 'O will ye be called a robber's wife?
Or will ye be stickit wi my bloody knife?
For pu'in,' etc.
14 'Before I'll be called a robber's wife,
I'11 rather be stickit wi your bloody knife,
For pu'in,' etc.
15 But just as he took out his knife,
To tak frae her her alit sweet life,
Her brother John cam ryding bye,
And this bloody robber he did espy.
16 But when lie saw his sister fair,
He kennd her by her yellow hair;
He calld upon his pages three,
To find this robber speediie.
17 'My sisters twa that are dead and gane,
For whom we made a heavy maene,
It's you that 's twined them o their life,
And wi your cruel bloody knife.
18 'Then for their life ye sair shall dree
Ye sall be hangit on a tree,
Or thrown into the poisond lake,
To feed the toads and rattle-snake.'
[Down by the Bonny Banks of Airdrie']- Version F; Child 14: Babylon or The Bonnie Banks o Fordie
“In Gipsy Tents,” by Francis Hindes Groome, p. 143.
1 There were three sisters going from home,
All in a lea and alony, oh
They met a man, and he made them stand,
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
2 He took the first one by the hand,
He turned her round, and he made her stand.
3 Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?
Or will you die by my penknife?
4 ‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,
But I will die by your penknife.’
5 Then he took the second by her hand,
He turned her round, and he made her stand.
6 Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?
Or will you die by my penknife?
7 ‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,
But I will die by your penknife.’
8 He took the third one by the hand,
He turned her round, and he made her stand.
9 Saying, Will you be a robber’s wife?
Or will you die by my penknife?
10 ‘Oh, I wont be a robber’s wife,
And I wont die by your penknife.
11 ‘If my two brothers had been here,
You would not have killed my sisters two.’
12 ‘What was your two brothers’ names?’
‘One was John, and the other was James.’
13 ‘Oh, what did your two brothers do?’
‘One was a minister, the other such as you.’
14 ‘Oh, what is this that I have done?
I have killed my sisters, all but one.
15 ‘And now I’ll take out my penknife,
And here I’ll end my own sweet life.’
______________
End-Notes
A. a. "Given from two copies obtained from recitation, which differ but little from each other. Indeed, the only variation is in the verse where the outlawed brother unweetingly slays his sister." [19.] Motherwell.
b. 19. He's taken out his wee penknife,
Hey how bonnie
And he's twined her o her ain sweet life.
On the, etc.
c. The first stanza only:
There were three sisters livd in a bower,
Fair Annet and Margaret and Marjorie
And they went out to pu a flower.
And the dew draps off the hyndberry tree
B. a. "To a wild melancholy old tune not in any collection."
"N. B. There are a great many other verses which I could not recover. Upon describing her brothers, the banished man finds that he has killed his two brothers and two sisters, upon which he kills himself." Herd.
22. Manuscript Quhen.
41, 42, 52, 121, 122, 132, 142. ye, your, yet, Manuscript ze, zour, zet. 8, 9, 10 are not written out.
b. "Of this I have got only 14 stanzas, but there are many more. It is a horrid story. The banished man discovers that he has killed two of his brothers and his three (?) sisters, upon which he kills himself." Jamieson.
The first two stanzas only are cited by Jamieson.
11. three sisters. 22. up there started.
C. 7-11 and 122 are not written out in the manuscript. "Repeat as to the second sister, mutatis mutandis." Motherwell.
D. 9-13 are not written out in the manuscript "Same as 1st sister." Motherwell.
142. bring her.
15, 16 are not written out. "Same as 1st and 2d sisters, but this additional, vizt." M
222. longe, or large?
Additions and Corrections
P. 172 a. Swedish. Professor George Stephens points me to two localized prose outlines of the story, one from Småland, the other from Skåne; 'Truls och hans barn,' in the Svenska Fornminnesföreningens Tidskrift, II, 77 f.
P. 172 b. Färöe. Four versions are known; Lyngbye's is repeated in Hammershaimb's Færøsk Anthologi, No 13, p. 45, 'Torkils døtur.'
173. 'La Fille d'un Cabaretier,' Guillon, Chansons pop. de l'Ain, p. 165, has some of the circumstances of No 14. A girl is stopped by three "libertins" in a wood. She gives them her ring and her chain, to ransom her person. They say they will have that too, and kill her when she resists. They then go for breakfast to her father's tavern, and while they are paying their scot the ring falls and is recognized by her mother. The youngest confesses, and they are taken to the forest and burned.
In a Russian ballad the only sister of nine [seven] brothers is given in marriage to a rich merchant, who lives at a distance from her home. After three years the married pair undertake a journey to her native place. On their way they are attacked by nine robbers, who kill her husband, throw her child into the sea, and act their pleasure with her. One of the nine, entering into talk with the woman, discovers that she is his sister. Sakharof, translated in Kalston's Songs of the Russian People, p. 49 f; Ruibnikof, Part III, p. 340, No 62, Part IV, p. 99, No 19; Hilferding, col. 149, No 28, col. 844, No 167, col. 1154, No 248, col. 1265, No 294; Trudy, V, 910, No 479, A-H.
P. 170. Add:
F. "In Gipsy Tents," by Francis Hindes Groome, p. 143.
1 There were three sisters going from home,
All in a lea and alony, oh
They met a man, and he made them stand,
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
2 He took the first one by the hand,
All in a lea and alony, oh
He turned her round, and he made her stand.
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
3 Saying, Will you be a robber's wife?
All in a lea and alony, oh
Or will you die by my penknife?
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
4 'Oh, I wont be a robber's wife,
All in a lea and alony, oh
But I will die by your penknife.'
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
5 Then he took the second by her hand,
All in a lea and alony, oh
He turned her round, and he made her stand.
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
6 Saying, Will you be a robber's wife?
All in a lea and alony, oh
Or will you die by my penknife?
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
7 'Oh, I wont be a robber's wife,
All in a lea and alony, oh
But I will die by your penknife.'
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
8 He took the third one by the hand,
All in a lea and alony, oh
He turned her round, and he made her stand.
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
9 Saying, Will you be a robber's wife?
All in a lea and alony, oh
Or will you die by my penknife?
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
10 'Oh, I wont be a robber's wife,
All in a lea and alony, oh
And I wont die by your penknife.
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
11 'If my two brothers had been here,
All in a lea and alony, oh
You would not have killed my sisters two.'
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
12 'What was your two brothers' names?'
All in a lea and alony, oh
'One was John, and the other was James.'
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
13 'Oh, what did your two brothers do?'
All in a lea and alony, oh
'One was a minister, the other such as you.'
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
14 'Oh, what is this that I have done?
All in a lea and alony, oh
I have killed my sisters, all but one.
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
15 ' And now I'll take out my penknife,
All in a lea and alony, oh
And here I'll end my own sweet life.'
Down by the bonny banks of Airdrie, oh.
P. 173, II, 499. Add to the French ballad: 'Le Passage du Bois,' V. Smith, Chants p. du Velay et du Forez, Romania, X, 205; 'La Doulento,' Arbaud, I, 120; Poésies p. de la France, Manuscript, IV, fol. 442, printed in Rolland, III, 55. With these belong 'La Ragazza assassinata,' Nigra, No 12, three versions, p. 85 ff.; 'La Vergine uccisa,' Ferraro, Canti p. monferrini, p. 17.
P. 171 a. Danish. 'Herr Tures Døtre,' Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, X, 294, No 72.
P. 170, II, 499 a, III, 500. Add to the French ballad, 'C'est trois garçons dépaysés,' Pineau, Le Folk-Lore du Poitou, p. 281; 'Les Coumpagnons,' Laroche, Folklore du Lauraguais, p. 245.
171 a. Danish. Add: Hr. Tures Døtre, Kristensen, Folkeminder, XI, 145, No 56.
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P. 170, 501 b, II, 499 a, III, 499 f., IV, 450 a, V, 209 b. 'Hr. Truelses Døtre' is No 338 of the Danish ballads in the continuation of Grundtvig's collection by Dr. Axel Olrik, Danske Ridderviser, 1895, I, 114, where the ballad is subjected to a minute study. The existence of a ballad is mentioned in 1624, and indicated as early as 1598. There are Danish, Swedish, and Icelandic versions of the 17th century, and numerous later copies, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Färöe: Danish, in all, 10, one of the 17th century; Swedish 12, 4 of the 17th century; Norwegian 6; Färöe 4. Five of the Norwegian copies take the direction of the Icelandic and Färöe in the treatment of the story. Two varieties of the ballad may be specially distinguished: one in which we have the miracle of a light burning or a fountain (fountains) springing over the place where the maids were murdered (called by Olrik the legendary form), the other in which the career and fate of the sons are made prominent. The "legendary" versions are the older. In these the maids are regarded as martyrs, and popular religious observances in connection with the miraculous fountains and in commemoration of the murdered maids have been kept up into the present century. The story is localized in not less than thirteen Danish accounts and others in Sweden.
II, 499 a, III, 500, V, 209 b. Add to the French ballads a copy, which has lost still more of the characteristic traits, obtained by M. Couraye du Pare in Basse-Normandie: Études romanes dédiées à Gaston Paris, 1891, p. 47, No 10.
II, 499 a. A Ruthenian story like that of the Great Russian ballad in Kolberg, Pokucie, II, 30, No 33.