No. 61: Sir Cawline
[There are no known traditional US or Canadian versions of this ballad. Child adds the Harris version, Sir Colin, in an Appendix. since it is traditional, perhaps it should be Version B. The words to Sir Colin were written down from memory by Amelia Harris in 1859 and the tune by her sister Jane in 1872. It was learned from their mother who died in 1845.]
CONTENTS:
1. Child's Narrative
2. Footnotes (Moved to the end of Child's Narrative)
3. Brief (Kittredge)
4. Child's Ballad Texts A.
5. End-Notes
6. Appendix: "Sir Colin" also "King Malcolm and Sir Colvin"
7. Additions and Corrections
ATTACHED PAGES (see left hand column):
1. Recordings & Info: Sir Cawline
A. Roud Number 479: Sir Cawline (15 Listings)
2. English and Other Versions (Including Child versions A with additional notes)]
3. Sheet Music: Sir Cawline (Bronson's text and music)
Child's Narrative
A. Percy Manuscript, p. 568; Hales and Furnivall, III, 3.
The copy of this ballad in the Percy manuscript, the only one known to exist, shows very great carelessness on the part of the transcriber, or of some predecessor. It begins with these two stanzas, which manifestly belong to an historical ballad, and have only a verbal connection with what follows:
Jesus, lord mickle of might,
That dyed ffor us on the roode,
To maintaine vs in all our right [1]
That loues true English blood.
Ffor by a knight I say my song,
Was bold and ffull hardye;
Sir Robert Briuse wold fforth to flight,
In-to Ireland ouer the sea.
There is a large omission after the 125th verse (the 28th stanza as here printed), though the writing is continuous. There are also several difficult or unintelligible passages, even more than are usually met with in this manuscript.
As published in the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, I, 35, ed. 1765, I, 41, ed. 1794, 'Sir Cawline' is extended to nearly twice the amount of what is found in the manuscript, and a tragical turn is forced upon the story.
I have said that the copy of 'Sir Cawline' in the Percy manuscript is the only one known. There are nevertheless two Scottish ballads, one hitherto unpublished and one printed by Buchan, which narrate Sir Colvin's winning the king's daughter by vanquishing the elritch knight. These, I conceive, however, to be simple rifacimenti of the ballad in Percy's Reliques. They will be given in an appendix.
'Sir Cawline' may possibly be formed upon a romance in stanzas[2] which itself was composed from earlier ballads. There are two adventures in the ballad, one with an elritch knight, and a second with a five-headed giant who is at the same time a hend soldan, and there seem to be traces of another in the now unintelligible twenty-ninth stanza. The first adventure, though not of the same commonplace description as the second, is still by no means unique. We are immediately reminded of the beautiful romance of Eger, Grime and Gray. Steel: how Gray-Steel kept a forbidden country beyond seven days of wilderness, and how Grime slew the up to that time unmatched Gray-Steel with the sword Erkyin [EgekingJ, brought from beyond the Greekës sea, and cut off his hand, with fingers thrice a common man's size, and on every finger a gay gold ring.[3] Gray-Steel, to be sure, is pictured rather as a giant than an elf, but still gives the impression of something out of the ordinary, as having perhaps lost an elritch character in the course of tradition. The elritch knight in our ballad haunts the moors, far from any good town, like Grendel, who held the moors and fens, but there is only a hint of that supernatural terror which attends the awful "march-stepper" in Beówulf. Gervase of Tilbury has a story of an ancient entrenchment in the bishopric of Ely, where anybody could have a passage at arms with an unearthly warrior, by moonlight only, by simply calling out, "Come, knight, and meet knight."[4] Scott has introduced a spectral combat of this sort into his Marmion, Canto III, xxiii-xxv, and in a note (4) cites a similar encounter from Heywood's Hierarchy of Blessed Angels. He adds that a forest in the North Highlands is believed to be haunted by a martial spirit called Lhamdearg, or Bloody Hand, who insists on all whom he meets doing battle with him. Villemarqué has a tale like that of Gervasius, Les Romans de la Table Ronde, etc., 1860, p. 392 f (Liebrecht). These combatants and combats are rather shadowy compared with Grendel, Gray-Steel, our Elritch King, and an encounter with them.
'Liden Grimmer og Hjelmer Kamp,' a ballad of the 'Orm Ungersvend' class, Grundtvig, No 26 (I, 352, from manuscripts of the 16th and the 17th century, IV, 762, from recent tradition), has the same remote and general resemblance to 'Sir Cawline' that 'Orm Ungersvend' has to 'King Estmere,' the points of agreement permitting the supposition of a far-off connection, or of no connection at all.[5] In Danish A, Grimmer, a young man who never went to a dance except with a drawn sword in his hand or sat down to table out of his corselet, sails to the heathen-king's land and asks him for his daughter. The king tells him that he will not get the fair maid unless he fights with Hjelmer Kamp and wins. The king's daughter, who is as favorably inclined to Grimmer as King Adland's daughter is to Estmere (and King Ardine's daughter to Adler), though in neither case has there been a previous meeting, tells him that no man ever came back from a fight with Hjelmer, and that Grimmer is far from understanding her father, who really wishes his death. Grimmer is not at all daunted, and so the lady gives him a sword with which he is sure to prevail. Thus equipped he makes sail for Hjelmer Kamp, who receives him with contemptuous remarks upon his size, but is presently cut to bits. Stopping only long enough to make boot of Hjelmer's gold, Grimmer returns to the heathen-king's court, and receives the princess in marriage. The resemblance of the Danish ballad is to be found in Cawline's second adventure, that with the giant, where the elritch sword represents the invincible weapon bestowed by the princess. In Danish B a coat of mail goes with the sword, "som icke skal suerd paa bide." This coat is like Estmere's after Adler has brought his magic to bear, and Cawline's fight with the giant, Estmere's with Bremor, and Hjelmer's with the kemp have all an obvious similitude.
Two verbal peculiarities in this ballad will not fail to be remarked: a superfluous and, 74, without and a good leedginge, 83, and take you doe and the baken bread, 271, and hee tooke then vp and that eldryge sword, 391, but take you doo and your lands broad, and again 261 (?); for used, apparently, in the sense of but (as in "for and a shrouding sheet"), 113, ffor if you wold comfort me with a kisse, 133, ffor some deeds of armes ffaine wold I doe, 225, ffor they tooke and two good swords; in this last we have the superfluous and again. These were, perhaps, only tricks of some ballad-singer, eking out his measure with half-articulated syllables.[6]
Percy's ballad is translated by Bodmer, I, 134, and by Bothe, p. 25; Buchan's by Gerhard, p. 32.
Footnotes:
1. So maintaine vs all in our right?
2. To this suggestion the actual form of stanzas 8, 11 lends a faint plausibility.
3. Percy Manuscript, Hales and Furnivall, I, 367, 372 f, 389, 391. For the name of the sword see Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde, p. 500.
4. Cited by Scott, Minstrelsy, II, 273, ed. 1833; Otia imperialia, ed. Liebrecht, LIX, p. 26.
5. Grundtvig's A, B are translated by Dr. Prior, I, 276. The story is found also in Icelandic rímur of the 15th century printed in Björner's Kämpedater, 1737. Björner was acquainted with an old Swedish ballad on the subject, but this ballad has not been found. The story of these rímur is given by Mallet, Histoire de Dannemarc, II, 312, ed. 1787, ane! in Percy's translation, Northern Antiquities, II, 248.
6. So, as to and, the German 'Ulinger,' Mittler, p. 68, sts 21, 22, 23; den ersten schrey vnd den sie thet, etc.
Brief Description by George Lyman Kittredge
The copy of this ballad in the Percy manuscript, the only one known to exist, shows very great carelessness on the part of the transcriber, or of some predecessor. It begins with two stanzas, which manifestly belong to an historical ballad, and have only a verbal connection with what follows. There is a large omission after the 125th verse (the 28th stanza as here printed), though the writing is continuous. There are also several difficult or unintelligible passages, even more than are usually met with in this manuscript. As published in the Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 'Sir Cawline' is extended to nearly twice the amount of what is found in the manuscript, and a tragical turn is forced upon the story.
'Sir Cawline' may possibly be formed upon a romance in stanzas which itself was composed from earlier ballads. The first adventure resembles one in the romance of Eger, Grime and Gray-Steel. Gervase of Tilbury has a story of an ancient entrenchment in the bishopric of Ely, where anybody could have a passage at arms with an unearthly warrior, by moonlight only, by simply calling out, "Come, knight, and meet knight." Scott has introduced a spectral combat of this sort into his Marmion, Canto iii, sts. 23-25. Cf. also the Old French Lai de l'Espine, wrongly ascribed to Marie de France. There is a close resemblance between 'Sir Cawline' and the story of Sir Eglamour (Thornton Romances, p. 121; Percy Manuscript, Hales and Furnivall, n, 341).
Child's Ballad Text
'Sir Cawline'- Version A; Child 61
Percy Manuscript, p. 368; Hales and Furnivall, III, 3.
1 And in that land dwells a king
Which does beare the bell ouer all,
And with him there dwelled a curteous knight,
Sir Cawline men him call.
2 And he hath a ladye to his daughter,
Of ffashyon shee hath noe peer;
Knights and lordes they woed her both,
Trusted to haue beene her feere.
3 Sir Cawline loues her best of one,
But nothing durst hee say
To discreeue his councell to noe man,
But deerlye loued this may.
4 Till itt beffell vpon a day,
Great dill to him was dight;
The maydens loue remoued his mind,
To care-bed went the knight.
5 And one while he spread his armes him ffroe,
And cryed so pittyouslye:
'Ffor the maydens loue that I haue most minde
This day may comfort mee,
Or else ere noone I shalbe dead!'
Thus can Sir Cawline say.
6 When our parish masse that itt was done,
And our king was bowne to dine,
He sayes, Where is Sir Cawline,
That was wont to serne me with ale and wine?
7 But then answered a curteous knight,
Ffast his hands wringinge:
'Sir Cawline's sicke, and like to be dead
Without and a good leedginge.'
8 'Ffeitch yee downe my daughter deere,
Shee is a leeche ffull ffine;
I, and take you doe and the baken bread,
And drinke he on the wine soe red,
And looke no daynti is ffor him to deare,
For ffull loth I wold him tine.'
9 This ladye is gone to his chamber,
Her maydens ffollowing nye;
'O well,' shee sayth, 'how doth my lord?'
'O sicke!' againe saith hee.
10 'I, but rise vp wightlye, man, for shame!
Neuer lye here soe cowardlye!
Itt is told in my ffathers hall,
Ffor my loue you will dye.'
11 'Itt is ffor your loue, ffayre ladye,
that all this dill I drye;
Ffor if you wold comfort me with a kisse,
Then were I brought ffrom bale to blisse,
Noe longer here wold I lye.'
12 'Alas! soe well you know, Sir knight,'
. . . . .
. . . . . .
. . . . .
13 . . . . . .
I cannott bee your peere:
'Ffor some deeds of armes ffaine wold I doe,
To be your bacheeleere.'
14 'Vpon Eldrige Hill there growes a thorne,
Vpon the mores brodinge;
And wold you, sir knight, wake there all night
To day of the other morninge?
15 'Ffor the eldrige king, that is mickle of might,
Will examine you beforne;
And there was neuer man that bare his liffe away
Since the day that I was borne.'
16 'But I will ffor your sake, ffaire ladye,
Walke on the bents [soe] browne,
And Ile either bring you a readye token,
Or Ile neuer come to you againe.'
17 But this ladye is gone to her chamber,
Her maydens ffollowing bright,
And Sir Cawlin's gone to the mores soe broad,
Ffor to wake there all night.
18 Vnto midnight [that] the moone did rise,
He walked vp and downe,
And a lightsome bugle then heard he blow,
Ouer the bents soe browne;
Saies hee, And if cryance come vntill my hart,
I am ffarr ffrom any good towne.
19 And he spyed, ene a litle him by,
A ffuryous king and a ffell,
And a ladye bright his brydle led,
that seemlye itt was to see.
20 And soe fast hee called vpon Sir Cawline,
Oh man, I redd the fflye!
Ffor if cryance come vntill thy hart,
I am a-feard least thou mun dye.
21 He sayes, [No] cryance comes to my hart,
Nor ifaith I ffeare not thee;
Ffor because thou minged not Christ before,
Thee lesse me dreadeth thee.
22 But Sir Cawline he shooke a speare;
The king was bold, and abode;
And the timber these two children bore
Soe soone in sunder slode;
Ffor they tooke and two good swords,
And they layden on good loade.
23 But the elridge king was mickle of might,
And stiffly to the ground did stand;
But Sir Cawline, with an aukeward stroke,
He brought ffrom him his hand,
I, and fflying ouer his head soe hye,
[It] ffell downe of that lay land.
24 And his lady stood a litle thereby,
Ffast ringing her hands:
'For the maydens loue that you haue most minde,
Smyte you my lord no more.
25 'And hees neuer come vpon Eldrige [Hill],
Him to sport, gamon, or play,
And to meete noe man of middle-earth
And that liues on Christs his lay.'
26 But he then vp and that eldryge king,
Sett him in his sadle againe,
And that eldryge king and his ladye
To their castle are they gone.
27 And hee tooke then vp and that eldryge sword,
As hard as any fflynt,
And soe he did those ringes fiue,
Harder then ffyer, and brent.
28 Ffirst he presented to the kings daughter
The hand, and then the sword,
. . . . . .
. . . . .
29 'But a serre buffett you haue him giuen,
The king and the crowne,' shee sayd:
'I, but four and thirty stripes
Comen beside the rood.'
30 And a gyant that was both stiffe [and] strong,
He lope now them amonge,
And vpon his squier fiue heads he bare,
Vnmackley made was hee.
31 And he dranke then on the kings wine,
And hee put the cup in his sleeue,
And all th?e trembled and were wan,
Ffor feare he shold them greeffe.
32 'Ill tell thee mine arrand, king,' he sayes,
'Mine errand what I doe heere;
Ffor I will bren thy temples hye,
Or Ile haue thy daughter deere;
Thou shalt ffind mee a ppeare.'
I, or else vpon yond more soe brood
33 The king he turned him round about,
Lord, in his heart he was woe!
Says, Is there noe knight of the Round Table
This matter will vndergoe?
34 'I, and hee shall haue my broad lands,
And keepe them well his liue;
I, and soe hee shall my daughter deere,
To be his weded wiffe.'
35 And then stood vp Sir Cawline,
His owne errand ffor to say:
'Ifaith, I wold to God, Sir,' sayd Sir Cawline,
'that soldan I will assay.
36 'Goe ffeitch me downe my eldrige sword,
Ffor I woone itt att ffray:'
'But away, away!' sayd the hend soldan,
'Thou tarryest mee here all day!'
37 But the hend soldan and Sir Cawline
The ffought a summers day;
Now has hee slaine that hend soldan,
And brought his fiue heads away.
38 And the king has betaken him his broade lands,
And all his venison;
. . . . . .
. . . . .
39 'But take you doo and your lands [soe] broad,
And brooke them well your liffe;
Ffor you promised mee your daughter deere,
To be my weded wiffe.'
40 'Now by my ffaith,' then sayes our king,
'Ffor that wee will not striffe,
Ffor thou shalt haue my daughter dere,
To be thy weded wiffe.'
41 The other morninge Sir Cawline rose
By the dawning of the day,
And vntill a garden did he goe
His mattins ffor to say;
And that bespyed a ffalse steward,
A shames death that he might dye!
42 And he lett a lyon out of a bande,
Sir Cawline ffor to teare;
And he had noe wepon him vpon,
Nor noe wepon did weare.
43 But hee tooke then his mantle of greene,
Into the lyons mouth itt thrust;
He held the lyon soe sore to the wall
Till the lyons hart did burst.
44 And the watchmen cryed vpon the walls And sayd,
'Sir Cawline's slaine!
And with a beast is not ffull litle,
A lyon of mickle mayne:'
Then the kings daughter shee ffell downe,
'For peerlesse is my payne!'
45 'O peace, my lady!' sayes Sir Cawline,
'I haue bought thy loue ffull deere;
O peace, my lady!' sayes Sir Cawline,
'Peace, lady, ffor I am heere!'
46 Then he did marry this kings daughter,
With gold and siluer bright,
And fiftene sonnes this ladye beere
To Sir Cawline the knight.
End-Notes
The first two stanzas of the Manuscript have been omitted, as belonging to another ballad.
12. ouer all does beare the bell.
14. men call him Sir Cawline.
24. her peere.
34. this mayd.
55. Only half the second n of noone in the Manuscript. Furnivall.
72. wringinge his hands.
84. and eene on: Manuscript edne? Furnivall. I feel no confidence in the emendation.
85. no daytinesse.
86. teene.
102. lye soe cowardlye here.
115. Manuscript now? Furnivall. 121, 132,3,4 make a stanza in the Manuscript
181. they Moone.
223,5. 2.
234. him ffrom.
236. There may be a bold ellipsis of It.
243. for they ... most meed: cf. 53.
251. heest.
273. 5.
282. they hand ... they sword.
291. serrett buffett.
293. 34.
303. 5.
325. in or.
326. mee appeare.
374. 5.
391. you too.
463. 15
Appendix
The first of the following pieces is described as having been learned by Mrs. Harris, in Perthshire, about 1790, transmitted by recitation to her daughter, and written down from recollection in 1859. No account is given of the derivation of the other. Both make the princess marry Sir Colvin after his victory on the elritch hill, rejecting Percy's pathetic conclusion. Neither retains much of the phraseology of Percy's manuscript, and neither shows those traces of Percy's phraseology which would demonstrate its parentage. The first, though the style is stale enough, has not the decidedly stall-copy stamp of the other. It undoubtedly has passed through a succession of mouths (as is shown by the change of leech to match in 32), but we may doubt whether the other was ever sung or said. 84, in the Harris version,
Sin the first nicht that I was born,
is close to the Percy manuscript, 174,
Since the day that I was borne,
where Percy's Reliques has,
But he did him scath and scorne.
In the old manuscript, when Sir Cawline cuts off the elritch knight's hand, the hand flies over the knight's head and falls down on that lay land; in Buchan, 25, 26, the hand also flies into the sky and lights on the ground; but Percy says merely that the knight fell on that lay land. So that there is one case in each of agreement with the Percy manuscript where the Reliques depart from it. It may also be urged that Buchan, 221,2,
To trouble any Christian one
Lives in the righteous law,
is nearer to what we find in the manuscript, st. 25,
And to meete noe man of middle-earth
And that liues (= 'lieves) on Christs his lay,
than Percy's,
That thou wilt believe on Christ his laye,
And thereto plight thy hand;
And that thou never on Eldridge come.
Were there anything characteristic or otherwise remarkable in the passages where there is agreement with the Percy manuscript and divergence from the Reliques, even one case of such agreement could not be lightly set aside. [1, see below] But such agreements as these are not significant enough to offset the general character of the Scottish ballads, which is not that of a traditional waif, but of a fabrication of recent times. It is most likely that the Harris ballad was put together by some one who was imperfectly acquainted with the copy in the Reliques. Whether Buchan's ballad was formed upon some copy of the Harris version it is not worth the while to ask.
Sir Colin
Harris Manuscript, fol. 5b.
1 The king luikit owre his castle wa,
To his nobles ane an a';
Says, Whare it is him Sir Colin,
I dinna see him amang you a'?
2 Up it spak an eldern knicht,
Aye an even up spak he:
I Sir Colin's sick for your dochter Janet,
He's very sick, an like to dee.'
3 'Win up, win up, my dochter Janet,
I wat ye are a match most fine;
Tak the baken bread an wine sae ried,
An to Sir Colin ye maun gieng.'
4 Up she rase, that fair Janet,
An I wat weel she was na sweer,
An up they rase, her merrie maries,
All they said a' they wad gae wi her.
5 'No, no,' said fair Janet,
'No, no such thing can be;
For a thrang to gae to a sick man's bour,
I think it wald be great folie.
6 'How is my knicht, all last nicht?'
'Very siek an like to dee;
But if I had a kiss o your sweet lips,
I wald lie nae langer here.'
7 She leant her doon on his bed-side,
I wat she gae him kisses three;
But wi sighen said that fair Janet,
'As for your bride, I daurna be.
8 'Unless you watch the Orlange hill,
An at that hill there grows a thorn;
There neer cam a liven man frae it,
Sin the first nicht that I was born.'
9 'Oh I will watch the Orlange hill,
Though I waur thinkin to be slain;
But I will gie you some love tokens,
In case we never meet again.'
10 He gae her rings to her fingers,
Sae did he ribbons to her hair;
He gae her a broach to her briest-bane,
For fear that they sud neer meet mair.
11 She put her hand in her pocket,
An she took out a lang, lang wand;
'As lang's ony man this wand sall keep,
There sall not a drap o his blude be drawn.'
12 Whan een was come; an een-bells rung,
An a' man boun for bed,
There beheld him Sir Colin,
Fast to the Orlange hill he rade.
13 The wind blew trees oot at the rutes,
Sae did it auld castles doon;
'T was eneuch to fricht ony Christian knicht,
To be sae far frae ony toon.
14 He rade up, sae did he doon,
He rade even through the loan,
Till he spied a knicht, wi a ladie bricht,
Wi a bent bow intil his han.
15 She cried afar, ere she cam naur,
I warn ye, kind sir, I rede ye flee;
That for the love you bear to me,
I warn ye, kind sir, that ye flee.
16 They faucht up, sae did they doon,
They faucht even through the loan,
Till he cut air the king's richt han,
Was set aboot wi chains a' goud.
17 'Haud your hand now, Sir Colin,
I wat you've dung my love richt sair;
Noo for the love ye bear to me,
See that ye ding my love nae mair.'
18 He wooed, he wooed that fair Janet,
He wooed her and he brocht her hame;
He wooed, he wooed that fair Janet,
An ca'd her Dear-Coft till her name.
King Malcolm and Sir Colvin
Buchan's Ballads of the North of Scotland, II, 6; Motherwell's Manuscript, p. 581.
1 There ance livd a king in fair Scotland,
King Malcolm called by name,
Whom ancient history gives record
For valour, worth, and fame.
2 And it fell ance upon a day,
The king sat down to dine,
And then he missd a favourite knight,
Whose name was Sir Colvin.
3 But out it speaks another knight,
Ane o Sir Colvin's kin:
'He's lyin in bed, right sick in love,
All for your daughter Jean.'
4 'O wae's me,' said the royal king,
'I'm sorry for the same;
She maun take bread and wine sae red,
Give it to Sir Colvin.'
5 Then gently did she bear the bread',
Her page did carry the wine,
And set a table at his bed:
'Sir Colvin, rise and dine.'
6 'O well love I the wine, lady,
Come frae your lovely hand,
But better love I your fair body,
Than all fair Scotland's strand.'
7 'O hold your tongue now, Sir Colvin,
Let all your folly be;
My love must be by honour won,
Or nane shall enjoy me.
8 'But on the head o Elrick's hill,
Near by yon sharp hawthorn,
Where never a man with life eer came,
Sin our sweet Christ was born;
9 'O ye'll gang there and walk a' night,
And boldly blaw your horn;
With honour that ye do return,
Ye'll marry me the morn.'
10 Then up it raise him Sir Colvin,
And dressd in armour keen,
And he is on to Elrick's hill,
Without light of the meen.
11 At midnight mark the meen upstarts;
The knight walkd up and down,
While loudest cracks o thunder roard
Out ower the bent sae brown.
12 Then by the twinkling of an ee
He spied an armed knight,
A fair lady bearing his brand,
Wi torches burning bright.
13 Then he cried high, as he came nigh,
Coward thief, I bid you flee!
There is not ane comes to this hill,
But must engage wi me.
14 'Ye'll best take road before I come,
And best take foot and flee;
Here is a sword, baith sharp and broad
Will quarter you in three.'
15 Sir Colvin said, I'm not afraid
Of any here I see;
You hae not taen your God before;
Less dread hae I o thee.
16 Sir Colvin then he drew his sword,
His foe he drew his brand,
And they fought there on Elrick's hill
Till they were bluidy men.
17 The first an stroke the knight he strake,
Gae Colvin a slight wound;
The next an stroke Lord Colvin strake,
Brought's foe unto the ground.
18 'I yield, I yield,' the knight he said,
I fairly yield to thee;
Nae ane came eer to Elrick-hill
Eer gaind such victorie.
19 'I and my forbears here did haunt
Three hundred years and more;
I'm safe to swear a solemn oath
We were never beat before.'
20 'An asking,' said the lady gay,
'An asking ye'll grant me;,
'Ask on, ask on,' said Sir Colvin,
'What may your asking be?'
21 'Ye'll gie me hame my wounded knight,
Let me fare on my way;
And I 'se neer be seen on Elrick's hill,
By night, nor yet by day;
And to this place we'll come nae mair,
Coud we win safe away.
22 'To trouble any Christian one,
Lives in the righteous law,
We'll come nae mair unto this place,
Coud we win safe awa.'
23 'O yese get hame your wounded knight,
Ye shall not gang alane;
But I maun hae a wad o him,
Before that we twa twine.'
24 Sir Colvin being a book-learnd man,
Sae gude in fencing tee,
He's drawn a stroke behind his hand,
And followed in speedilie.
25 Sae fierce a stroke Sir Colvin's drawn,
And followed in speedilie,
The knight's brand and sword hand
In the air he gard them flee.
26 It flew sae high into the sky,
And lighted on the ground;
The rings that were on these fingers
Were worth five hundred pound.
27 Up he has taen that bluidy hand,
Set it before the king,
And the morn it was Wednesday,
When he married his daughter Jean.
Motherwell, who cites a manuscript of Buchan, prints the first three stanzas and the last with some variations: Introduction, p. lxvi, note **. The ballad is not in Buchan's two manuscript volumes.
Footnote to Appendix: The Percy manuscript was inspected by many persons near the time of the first publication of the Reliques, and again while the fourth edition was going through the press, but it is not for a moment to be suggested or supposed that anything in the Scottish 'Sir Colvin' is to be accounted for in that way.
Additions and Corrections
P. 56. I have omitted to refer to the close resemblance to Sir Eglamour, Thornton Romances, p. 121, Percy Manuscript, Hales and Furnivall, II, 341. See 'Sir Lionel,' I, 209.
56 b, line 19 f. Compare the sword given by Cristabelle to Sir Eglamour, v. 265 f:
Saint Poule fonde hyt in the Grekes sea.
57 a. In the Lai de l'Espine, erroneously ascribed by Roquefort to Marie de France, the hero, holding watch for the sake of adventure at the Gué de l'Espine, en la nuit de la Saint Jéhan, tilts with eldritch knights and wins a horse from one of them. The horse disappears, much as in the story in Gervase of Tilbury. G. L. K.
P. 56 b. Amadas, while watching at the tomb of Ydoine, has a terrific combat with a highly mysterious stranger knight, whom he vanquishes. The stranger then informs Amadas that Ydoine is not really dead, etc., etc. He gives sufficient evidence of his elritch character, and the author clinches the matter by speaking of him as "the maufé" " (v. 6709). Amadas et Ydoine, ed. Hippeau, vv. 5465 ff., p. 189 ff.. (G. L. K.)
60. Stanzas 42 ff.. It might have been remarked that this feat of tearing out a lion's heart belongs to King Richard (see Weber's Romances, II, 44), hence, according to the romance, named Coeur de Lion, and that it has also been assigned to an humbler hero, in a well-known broadside ballad, 'The Honour of a London Prentice,' Old Ballads, 1723, I, 199 (where there are two lions for one).
P. 60, III, 508 b. Cuciilin pulls liver and lights out of the throats of two lions: Curtin, Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland, p. 317.