English & Other 188. Archie O' Cawfield
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CONTENTS:
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The Bold Prisoner.
by Frank Egbert Bryant
Source: Modern Language Notes, Vol. 25, No. 7 (Nov., 1910), pp. 210-211
Published by: Johns Hopkins University Press
THE BOLD PRISONER.
(ARCHIE O CAWFIELD).
The following ballad, a version of Archie o Cawfield, Child, No. 188, forms t he first column of a broadside printed by Pitts probably in 1804-56. The date, my friend Professor Becker thinks, is fairly sure from a song printed o n the same sheet
as a second column. This song, The Land we Live in, begins:
Since our f oes to invade us have l ongb een p reparing,
'Tis clear theyc onsidewr e've something worth s haring,
Andf ort hatm eant o visito urs hore;
It behoveus s withs piritt o meet'e m,
And tho' twill be nothinugn commotno b eat' em,
We mustt ryh owt hey'll take it once m ore.
The firstt hreel ines of the second stanza read
Here's a healtht o thet arso n thew ideo cean ging( sic),
Perhapse venn ows omeb roadsideasr ee xchanging,
We'll on shipboaradn d join in thef ights.
This doggerel is so limited as to occasion that it hardly seems probable that it would continue to be printed long after the specific scare was over.
Each column of the broadside has its own woodcut,
each much worn. That for The Bold Prisoner
is a picture of a man carryinga basket. It is
framed in a double lined circle an inch and a half
in diameter.
This broadside is at presenti n my possession;
I obtained it last summer in London with several
others. I did not suppose that any were of value
and gave the lot no particular attention. It was
not much over a month ago that I firstr ead this
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Novemnbe1r9,1 0.] MODERN LANGUAGE NOTES. 211
specimenan d perceivedit as traditional.I senta
copy to ProfessoKr ittredgew, hoo f courser ecognizedi
t as a versiono f Archieo Cawvfeld.M y
broadsideis mostl ike ProfessoCrh ild'sv ersionF ,
III, 494. My copyi s muchs horterb,u tt hism ay
be due to thes tall tricko f cuttinga ballad to fit
thec olumn. Therea re no identicaslt anzast hough
foura re verys imilara, nd it is to be furthenro ted
that the title of F, as givenb y MIr.W atson,i s
Bold Dickie,C hild,I II, 495, E (= F). Neverthelesst
he treatmenti,t seems to me, is independente
noughi n F and in the followincgo pyt o
permito ne's consideringth emi ndependenvte rsions.
The Bold Prisoner,1
Pitts,P rinterW, holesaleT oy and Marblew arehouse,
6 , Greats t. Andrews treet7, dials.
As I wasa walkingf orm yr ecreation,
Acrosst heg reenm eadowso nem orninign May;
ThereI heardt wob rotheras t alking,
AndI listenedaw hilet o whatt heyd id say.
Sayso net ot heo ther,' I haveg ota brother,
In prisons o strongco nfineids he;
Buti f I hadf ortybr avef ellowlsi kem yself,
'Wes oonw oulds ett heb oldp risonefrr ee.
'Ten of thems houldh oldo url horsehse ad,
Ten at thep risond oors houldb e,
Andt ens houldg uardt hep risona ll round,
Whilet her ests houlds ett heb oldp risonefrr ee.'
Dickyb rokel ocks,a nd Dickyb rokeb olts,
AndD ickym adea ll beforhe imt o flee,
AndD ickyt ookA rthural l up in hiisa rms
Andc arriedh imo ffm ostm anfully.
Dickyl ookedo verh isl efts houlder,-
'You littled o thinkw hatI do see;
Herec omest heb olds herifoff b onnyd ownd ale
Anda hundredb oldt rapsi n company.'
'O stop,0 stop,'t hes herifhfe cries,
'O stop,0 stop,w hosoeveyro ub e;
Onlyg iveu s thei ronsf romo ffh isl egs,
Andy oum ayh avet heb oldp risonefrr ee.'
'0 no, 0 no,y oua rev astlym istaken,
O no, 0 no,t hatn everc an be;
The ironsw ills ervet o shoeo ur horses,
For weh avea farrieirn ourc ompany.
'O I willl eaveh ousesa nd I willl eavel ands,
I willl eavew ivesa nd childrenth ree;
But beforIe'd leavem yo wnd earesbt rother,
I soonerw ouldd ie undery onderg reent ree.'
1 In theb roadsideq,u otationm arksa re lackinga nd the
punctuatioins veryf aulty. Otherwisne o changesh ave
beenm ade.
To dancing, to dancing they went,
To dancing they went most merrily:
'Twas the very best dance that ever they lhad,
Because theyl hads et the bold prisonerf ree.
FRANK EGBERT BRYANT.
TJniversiot of Kansas