No. 33: Kempy Kay
[There are no known traditional US & Canadian versions.]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes {moved to the end of narrative}
3. Brief (Kittredge) [There's no brief for this ballad]
4. Child's Ballad Texts A-H (My H) [An additional version, I've designated H, titled 'Knip Knap,' was added later in "Additions and Corrections."]
5. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Kempy Kay
A. Roud Number 32; (20 listings) Kempy Kay
2. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A-H with additional notes)]
3. Sheet Music: Kempy Kay (Bronson's texts and some music examples)
Child's Narrative
A. 'Kempy Kay.' Pitcairn's Manuscripts, II, 125. Scotish Ballads and Songs [James MaidmentJ, Edinb. 1859, p. 35; Sharpe's Ballad Book, p. 81.
B. 'Kempy Kaye.'
a. Kinloch Manuscripts, I, 65.
b. Kinloch's Ballad Book, p. 41.
C. 'Kempy Kay,' or 'Kempy Kane,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 193. The first stanza in Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xxiv, No XXX.
D. 'Kempy Kay,' Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 192.
E. 'Drowsy Lane.' Campbell Manuscripts, II, 122.
F. 'Bar aye your bower door weel.' Campbell Manuscripts, II, 101.
G. 'King Knapperty.' Buchan's Manuscripts, I, 133.
H. 'Knip Knap,' taken down in the summer of 1893 by Mr. Walker, of Aberdeen, at Portlethen, from the singing of an old man, as learned more than fifty years before from an old blacksmith at Dyce, near Aberdeen. [H was added later]
All these versions of 'Kempy Kay' are known, or may be presumed, to have been taken down within the first three decades of this century; A is traced as many years back into the last. The fourth stanza of A clearly belongs to some other ballad. Both A and B appear to have undergone some slight changes when published by Sharpe and Kinloch respectively. Some verses from this ballad have been adopted into one form of a still more unpleasant piece in the Campbell collection, concerning a wife who was "the queen of all sluts." [1]
Sharpe remarks: "This song my learned readers will perceive to be of Scandinavian origin, and that the wooer's name was probably suggested by Sir Kaye's of the Round Table. ... The description of Bengoleer's daughter resembles that of the enchanted damsel who appeared to courteous King Henrie." It is among possibilities that the ballad was an outgrowth from some form of the story of The Marriage of Sir Gawain, in the Percy version of which the "unseemly" lady is so rudely commented on and rejected by Kay. This unseemly lady, in The Wedding of Gawen and Dame Ragnell, and her counterpart in 'King Henry,' who is of superhuman height, show an extravagant voracity which recalls the giantess in 'Greve Genselin.' In 'Greve Genselin,' a burlesque form of an heroic ballad which is preserved in a pure shape in three Färöe versions (Grundtvig, IV, 737-42), there are many kemps invited to the wedding, and in a little dance which is had the smallest kemp is fifteen ells to [below] the knee, Grundtvig, No 16, A 26, B 29, C 29. Kempy Kay has gigantic dimensions in A 7, C 9, E 7: teeth like tetherstakes, a nose three [nine, five] feet long, three ells [nine yards] between his shoulders, a span between his eyne.[2] Of the bride it is said in A 12 that her finger nails were like the teeth of a rake and her teeth like tetherstakes. This is not decisive; it is her ugliness, filthiness, and laziness that are made most of. We may assume that she would be in dimension and the shape of nature a match for the kemp, but she does not comport herself especially like a giantess.
If Kempy Kay be the original name of the wooer, Knapperty and Chickmakin might easily be derived from corrupt pronunciations like Kampeky, Kimpaky.
Footnotes:
1. Manuscripts, II, 294, "What a bad luck had I" = The Queen of all Sluts, the same, p. 297. Stanzas 2, 3, 4, of the former are:
Then een in her head are like two rotten plumbs;
Turn her about and see how she glooms.
The teeth in her head were like harrow-pins;
Turn her about, and see how she girns.
The hair in her head was like heathercrows,
The l...s were in 't thick as linseed bows.
A comparatively inoffensive version, 'The Queen of Sluts,' in Chambers' Scottish Songs, p. 454.
2. The Carl of Carlile has the space of a large span between his brows, three yards over his shoulders, fingers like tether-stakes, and fifty cubits o' height. Percy Manuscript, Hales & Furnival, III, 283 f, vv 179-187.
Child's Ballad Texts A- G
'Kempy Kay'- Version A Child 33;
Pitcairn's Manuscripts, II, 125, as taken down by Mr. Pitcairn from the singing of his aunt, Mrs. Gammell, who had learned it in the neighborhood of Kincaid, Stirlingshire, when a child, or about 1770. Scotish Ballads and Songs [James Maidment], Edinburgh, 1859, p. 35; Sharpe'S Ballad Book, p 81.
1 Kempy Kaye's a wooing gane,
Far, far ayont the sea,
And he has met with an auld, auld man,
His gudefaythir to be.
2 'It's I'm coming to court your daughter dear,
And some part of your gear:'
'And by my sooth,' quoth Bengoleer,
'She'll sare a man a wear.
3 'My dochter she's a thrifty lass,
She span seven year to me,
And if it were weel counted up,
Full three heire it would be.
4 'What's the matter wi you, my fair creature,
You look so pale and wan?
I'm sure you was once the fairest creature
That ever the sun shined on.
5 'Gae scrape yoursel, and gae scart yoursel,
And mak your brucket face clean,
For the wooers are to be here to nighte,
And your body's to be seen.'
6 Sae they scrapit her, and they scartit her,
Like the face of an aussy pan;
Syne in cam Kempy Kay himself,
A clever and tall young man.
7 His teeth they were like tether-sticks,
His nose was three fit lang,
Between his shouthers was ells three,
And tween his eyne a span.
8 He led his dochter by the hand,
His dochter ben brought he:
'O is she not the fairest lass
That's in great Christendye?'
9 Ilka hair intil her head
Was like a heather-cowe,
And ilka louse anunder it
Was like a bruckit ewe.
10 She had tauchy teeth and kaily lips,
And wide lugs, fou o hair;
Her pouches fou o peasemeal-daighe
A' hinging down her spare.
11 Ilka eye intil her head
Was like a rotten plumbe,
And down browed was the queyne,
And sairly did she gloom.
12 Ilka nail upon her hand
Was like an iron rake,
And ilka tooth intil her head
Was like a tether-stake.
* * * * *
13 She gied to him a gravat,
O the auld horse's sheet,
And he gied her a gay gold ring,
O the auld couple-root.
'Kempy Kaye'- Version B Child 33
a. Kinloch Manuscripts, I, 65.
b. Kinloch's Ballad Book, p. 41. From the recitation of Mary Barr.
1 Kempy Kaye is a wooing gane,
Far ayont the sea,
And there he met wi auld Goling,
His gudefather to be, be,
His gudefather to be.
2 'Whar are ye gaun, O Kempy Kaye,
Whar are ye gaun sae sune?'
'O I am gaun to court a wife,
And think na ye that's a weel dune?'
3 'An ye be gaun to court a wife,
As ye do tell to me,
'Tis ye sall hae my Fusome Fug,
Your ae wife for to be.'
4 Whan auld Goling cam to the house,
He lookit thro a hole,
And there he saw the dirty drab
Just whisking oure the coal.
5 'Rise up, rise up my Fusome Fug,
And mak your foul face clean,
For the brawest wooer that ere ye saw
Is come develling doun the green.'
6 Up then rose the Fusome Fug,
To mak her foul face clean;
And aye she cursed her mither
She had na water in.
7 She rampit out, and she rampit in,
She rampit but and ben;
The tittles and tattles that hang frae her tail
Wad muck an acre o land.
8 She had a neis upon her face
Was like an auld pat-fit;
Atween her neis bot an her mou
Was inch thick deep wi dirt.
9 She had twa een intil her head
War like twa-rotten plums;
The heavy brows hung doun her face,
And O I vow she glooms!
10 He gied to her a braw silk napkin,
Was made o' an auld horse-brat:
'I ne'er wore a silk napkin a' my life,
But weel I wat Ise wear that.'
11 He gied to her a braw gowd ring,
Was made frae an auld brass pan:
'I neer wore a gowd ring in a' my life,
But now I wat Ise wear ane.'
12 Whan thir twa lovers had met thegither,
O kissing to get their fill,
The slaver that hang atween their twa gabs
Wad hae tetherd a ten year auld bill.
'Kempy Kay' or 'Kempy Kane' Version C Child 33
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 193. Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xxiv, No. XXX, the first stanza.
1 Kempy Kaye's a wooing gane,
And far beyond the sea, a wee
And there he met wi Drearylane,
His gay gudefather to be. a wee
2 'Gude een, gude een,' quo Drearylane,
'Gude een, gude een,' quo he, a wee
'I've come your dochter's love to win,
I kenna how it will do.' a wee
3 'My dochter she's a thrifty lass,
She's spun this gay seven year,
And if it come to gude guiding,
It will be half a heer.'
4 'Rise up, rise up, ye dirty slut,
And wash your foul face clean;
The wooers will be here the night
That suld been here yestreen.'
5 They took him ben to the fire en,
And set him on a chair;
He looked on the lass that he loved best,
And thought she was wondrous fair.
6 The een that was in our bride's head
Was like twa rotten plooms;
She was a chaunler-chaftit quean,
And O but she did gloom!
7 The skin that was on our bride's breast
Was like a saffron bag,
And aye her hand was at her neek,
And riving up the scabs.
8 The hair that was on our bride's head
Was like a heather-cow,
And every louse that lookit out
Was like a brockit ewe.
9 Betwixd Kempy's shouthers was three ells,
His nose was nine feet lang,
His teeth they were like tether sticks,
Between his eyne a span.
10 So aye they kissed, and aye they clapped,
I wat they kissed weel;
The slaver that hang between their mouths
Wad hae tethered a twa year auld bill.
'Kempy Kay'- Version D Child 33
Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 192.
1 * * * *
The father came unto the door,
And keeked thro the key-hole, a wee
And there he saw his dochter Jean,
Sitting on a coal. a wee
2 They scartit her, and scrapit her,
Wi the hand o a rusty pan, a wee
Her father he did all his best
For to get her a man, a wee
3 She is to the stoups gane,
There is nae water in;
She's cursed the hands and ban'd the feet
That did na bring it in.
4 Out then spak her auld mither,
In her bed whare she lay:
'If there is nae water in the house,
Gae harl her thro the lin.'
5 O she is to the taipy tapples gane,
That stood for seven year,
And there she washed her foul face clean,
And dried it wi a huggar.
6 He's gien her a gay gold ring,
Just like a cable-rope,
And she's gien him a gay gravat,
Made out o the tail o a sark.
-----------------
'Drowsy Lane'- Version E; Child 33 Kempy Kay
Campbell Manuscripts, II, 122.
1 'Gud een, gud een,' says Chickmakin,
'Ye're welcome here,' says Drowsy Lane;
'I'm comd to court your daughter Jean,
And marry her wi yer will, a wee.'
2 'My daughter Jean's a thrifty lass,
She's spun these seven lang years to me,
And gin she spin another seven,
She'll munt a half an heir, a wee.'
3 Drowsy Lane, it's he's gane hame,
And keekit through the hole, a wee
And there he saw his daughter Jean
A reeking oer the coal. a wee
4 'Get up, get up, ye dirty bitch,
And wash yer foul face clean,
For they are to be here the night
That should hae been here yestreen.'
5 Up she rose, pat on her clothes,
She's washen her foul face clean;
She cursed the hands, she ban'd the feet,
That wadna bring the water in.
6 She rubbit hersel, she scrubbit hersel,
Wi the side of a rustit pan, a wee,
And in a little came Chickmakin,
A braw young lad indeed was he.
7 His teeth they were like tether-steeks,
His nose was five feet lang;
Between his shoulders was nine yards broad,
And between his een a span.
8 Ilka hair into his head
Was like a heather-cowe,
And ilka louse that lookit out
Was like a brookit ewe.
9 Thae twa kissd and thae twa clapt,
And thae twa kissd their fill,
And aye the slaver between them hang
Wad tetherd a ten-pund bull.
10 They twa kissd and they twa clapt,
And they gaed to their bed, a wee,
And at their head a knocking stane
And at their feet a mell, a wee.
11 The auld wife she lay in her bed:
'And gin ye'll do my bidding a wee,
And gin ye'll do my bidding,' quoth she,
'Yees whirl her oer the lea, a wee.'
---------------------
'Bar aye your bower door weel'- Version F; Child 33 Kempy Kay
Campbell Manuscripts, II, 101.
1 As I cam oer yon misty muir,
And oer yon grass-green hill,
There I saw a campy carle
Going to the mill.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
2 I lookit in at her window,
And in at her hove hole,
And there I saw a fousome fag,
Cowering oer a coal.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
3 'Get up, get up, ye fousome fag,
And make yer face fou clean;
For the wooers will be here the night,
And your body will be seen.'
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
4 He gave her a gay cravat,
'Twas of an auld horse-sheet;
He gave her a gay goud ring,
'Twas of an auld tree root.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
5 He laid his arms about her neck,
They were like kipple-roots;
And aye he kissd her wi his lips,
They were like meller's hoops.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
6 When they were laid in marriage bed,
And covered oer wi fail,
The knocking mell below their heads
Did serve them wondrous weel.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
7 Ilka pap into her breasts
Was like a saffron bag,
And aye his hand at her a[rs]e
Was tearing up the scabs.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
8 Ilka hair into her head
Was like a heather-cow,
And ilka louse that lookit out
Was like a brookit ewe.
And bar aye yer bower door weel weel,
And bar ay yer bower door weel.
--------------
'King Knapperty'- Version G; Child 33 Kempy Kay
Buchan's Manuscripts, I, 133.
1. King Knapperty he's a hunting gane,
Oer hills and mountains high, high, high,
A gude pike-staff intill his hand,
And dulgets anew forbye, I, I, I,
And dulgets anew forbye.
2 Then he met in wi an auld woman,
Was feeding her flocks near by, I, I, I:
'I'm come a wooing to your daughter,
And a very gude bargain am I, I, I.'
3 And she's awa to her wee hole house,
Lookd in a wee chip hole,
And there she saw her filthy wee flag,
Was sitting athort the coal.
4 'Get up, get up, ye filthy foul flag,
And make your foul face clean;
There are wooers coming to the town,
And your foul face mauna be seen.'
5 Then up she raise, an awa she gaes,
And in at the back o the door,
And there a pig o water she saw,
'Twas seven years auld an mair.
6 Aye she rubbed, an aye she scrubbed,
To make her foul face clean,
And aye she bannd the auld wife, her mither,
For nae bringing clean water in.
7 King Knapperty he came in at the door,
Stood even up in the floor;
Altho that she had neer seen him before,
She kent him to be her dear.
8 He has taen her in his arms twa,
And kissd her, cheek and chin:
'I neer was kissd afore in my life,
But this night got mony ane.'
9 He has put his hand in his pocket,
And he's taen out a ring:
Says, 'Take ye that, my dearest dear,
It is made o the brazen pan.'
10 She thankd him ance, she thankd him twice,
She thankd him oer again:
'I neer got a ring before in my life,
But this night hae gotten ane.'
11 These lovers bed it was well made,
And at their hearts' desire;
These lovers bed it was well made,
At the side o the kitchen fire.
12 The bolster that these lovers had
Was the mattock an the mell,
And the covring that these lovers had
Was the clouted cloak an pale.
13 The draps that fell frae her twa een
Woud have gard a froth-mill gang,
An [the] clunkerts that hung at their heels
Woud hae muckd an acre o land.
14 An ilka hair that was in their head
Was like a heather-cow,
And ilka tenant that it containd
Was like a linsteed-bow.
-------------
Knip Knap'- Version H
Taken down in the summer of 1893 by Mr. Walker, of Aberdeen, at Portlethen, from the singing of an old man, as learned more than fifty years before from an old blacksmith at Dyce, near Aberdeen.
1 Knip Knap a hunting went,
Out-ower the head o yon hill, aye, aye
Wi a lust o pig-staves out-oer his shouther,
An mony a dulchach forby, aye, aye
2 There he met an old woman,
Was herdin at her kye;
'I 'm come yer ae dochter to woo,'
'She's a very good servant,' said I.
3 The wife gaed hame to her ain hole-house,
Lookit in at her ain spunk-hole,
An there she saw her ain foul flag,
Loupin across the coal.
4 'Win up, win up, my ae foul flag,
An mak yer foul face clean,
For yer wooer is comin here the nicht,
But yer foul face canna be seen, na, na'
5 She's taen the sheave- wisps out o her sheen,
An in behint the door,
An she has faen to the stale strang,
Seven year auld an more.
6 An aye she scrubbit, an aye she weesh,
Out-ower the pint o her chin,
Till a knip-knap cam to the door,
She kent it was her wooer.
7 He's taen her in his airms twa,
Kissd her cheek an chin:
'An I hae gotten kisses twa,
Whaur I never thocht to get ane.'
8 The verra hair was in her head
Was like the heather-cowe,
An ilka louse at the reet o that
Was like a brockit ewe.
9 The verra ee was in her head
Was like a muckle pan,
The hunkers and clunkers that hang frae her sheen
Wad hae covered an acre o lan.
10 The verra teeth was in her head
Was like a tether's check,
An the sneeters and snotters that hang frae her nose
Wad a gart a frozen mill gang.
11 The verra tongue was in her head
Wad been a guid mill-clap,
. . .
. . .
12 . . .
. . .
An ye may know very weel by that
She was a comely woman.
End-Notes
A. 53,4. Var. For Kempy Kay will be here the night
Or else the morn at een.
94. Var. Was like a lintseed bow.
These variations are found in Sharpe's copy. The first seven stanzas al'e put in the order 1, 6, 7, 3, 2, 4, 5.
21. I'm coming.
34. Full ten wobs it would be.
41,3. fair maiden, fairest maiden.
52. bruchty.
63. And in.
74. Between his een.
101. tauchty is misprinted lauchty.
104. War hinging.
113. An down down.
123. teeth, no doubt to indicate the pronunciation.
B. a. 41. Whan Kempy Kaye. Other copies show that it must be the father, and not the wooer.
63. ae, with ay in the margin: qu: aye as?
b. The variations of the Ballad Book are apperently arbitrary.
12. Far far.
84. o dirt.
After 9 follows:
Ilka hair that was on her head
Was like a heather cow,
And ilka louse that lookit out
Was like a lintseed bow.
a 4 succeeds, with Kempy Kaye for auld Goling, and is necessarily transferred if the reading Kempy Kaye is retained.
C. The order of the first five stanzas in the manuscript is 1, 2, 5, 4, 3.
A wee is the burden after every second and fourth verse, and so with D.
11,2. In Motherwell's Minstrelsy, Appendix, p. xxiv, No xxx.
Kempy Kane's a wooin gane,
And far ayont the sea awee.
32. years.
52. on a stool.
D. The first stanza is numbered 3 in the Manuscript, the second 5, and there is space left, as if for another, between 2 and 3.
E. A wee, originally a burden at the middle and the end of the stanza, as in C, D, has been adopted into the verse in 1, 2, 6, 10(?), 11, in which stanzas the even lines are of four accents instead of three. 2, 6 can be easily restored, on the model of C 3, A 6.
54. in the water.
G. I, I, I is added as burden to every second and fourth line; except 12, which adds high, high, and 24, only I, I.
Additions and Corrections
The following are mostly trivial variations from the spelling of the text.
302 a, B 21,2. Read Whare.
P. 301. A was communicated to C. K. Sharpe by Robert Pitcairn with the stanzas in the order printed by Sharpe. The arrangement in A would seem, therefore, to have been an afterthought of Pitcairn's. There is some slight difference of reading, also, in Pitcairn's Manuscript, and one defect is supplied. The variations in the copy sent Sharpe are (besides the order, as aforesaid) as follows:
21. I'm coming.
24. o weir.
34. three heire wanting.
44. Shone.
52. bruchty.
53. the night.
63. And in.
74. Between.
94. a lintseed bow (with the variant a bruchtit ewe).
101. lauchty.
104. A' wanting.
123. teeth into.
132. sheets (no doubt erroneously). A stanza between 8 and 9 is noted as deficient, and something after 13.
303. C. In a copy of C sent Sharpe by Motherwell in a letter of December 6, 1824, the fourth stanza is lacking, the fifth is third.
32. span: years.
52. stool.
'Knip Knap,' taken down in the summer of 1893 by Mr. Walker, of Aberdeen, at Portlethen, from the singing of an old man, as learned more than fifty years before from an old blacksmith at Dyce, near Aberdeen.
1 Knip Knap a hunting went,
Out-ower the head o yon hill, aye, aye
Wi a lust o pig-staves out-oer his shouther,
An mony a dulchach forby, aye, aye
2 There he met an old woman,
Was herdin at her kye;
'I 'm come yer ae dochter to woo,'
'She's a very good servant,' said I.
3 The wife gaed hame to her ain hole-house,
Lookit in at her ain spunk-hole,
An there she saw her ain foul flag,
Loupin across the coal.
4 'Win up, win up, my ae foul flag,
An mak yer foul face clean,
For yer wooer is comin here the nicht,
But yer foul face canna be seen, na, na'
5 She's taen the sheave- wisps out o her sheen,
An in behint the door,
An she has faen to the stale strang,
Seven year auld an more.
6 An aye she scrubbit, an aye she weesh,
Out-ower the pint o her chin,
Till a knip-knap cam to the door,
She kent it was her wooer.
7 He's taen her in his airms twa,
Kissd her cheek an chin:
'An I hae gotten kisses twa,
Whaur I never thocht to get ane.'
8 The verra hair was in her head
Was like the heather-cowe,
An ilka louse at the reet o that
Was like a brockit ewe.
9 The verra ee was in her head
Was like a muckle pan,
The hunkers and clunkers that hang frae her sheen
Wad hae covered an acre o lan.
10 The verra teeth was in her head
Was like a tether's check,
An the sneeters and snotters that hang frae her nose
Wad a gart a frozen mill gang.
11 The verra tongue was in her head
Wad been a guid mill-clap,
. . .
. . .
12 . . .
. . .
An ye may know very weel by that
She was a comely woman.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P. 300. I have serious doubts whether this offensive ballad has not been made too important; whether, notwithstanding the points noted at p. 301, it is anything more than a variety of 'The Queen of all Sluts.'
305 b. A 101. lauchty in Sharpe with a line drawn in ink through l (probably by the editor, as this is a presentation copy).
V, 213 a. Since we have Pitcairn's copy only in Sharpe's handwriting, we cannot determine which of the two made the changes.
To be Corrected in the Print.
305 b, notes, 101. tauchty, etc. Drop.
Supplementary
303, D 5, taipy-tapples. The Manuscript has saipy-sapples.