Heiress of Northumberland- (Edin) c.1823 C.K.Sharpe
[My date but before c. 1830, my location. From C.K. Sharpe's first collection, p. 7 in ESPB Additions and Corrections; Child version G. No informant is given, W. Scott's notes follow given in 1880 edition of Sharpe's Ballad Book.
R. Matteson 2018]
Sir W. Scott, commenting on this copy (to which he by mistake gives the title of The Stirrup of Northumberland), says: "An edition considerably varied both from Ritson's and the present I have heard sung by the Miss Tytlers of Woodhouselee. The tune is a very pretty lilt." Sharpe's Ballad Book, ed. 1880, p. 142.
At the end of the ballad we are told: Tradition's story is that the hero of this song was one of the Earls of Douglass, who was taken captive and put in prison by Percy, Earl of Northumberland.
G. "The Heiress of Northumberland," from C.K. Sharpe (1781–1851)
1 'Why, fair maid, have pity on me,'
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
'For I am bound in prison strong,
And under the heir o Northumberland.'
2 'How can I have pity on thee,'
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
'When thou hast a wife and children three,
All dwelling at home in fair Scotland?'
3 Now he has sworn a solemn oath,
And it was by eternity,
That wife and children he had none,
All dwelling at home in fair Scotland.
4 Now she's gone to her father's bedstock,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
And has stolen the key of the dungeon-lock,
And she the great heir o Northumberland.
5 And she's gone to her father's chest,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
She has stolen away a suit of the best,
Altho she was heir o Northumberland.
6 Now she's gone to her father's coffer,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
And has taen out gold nane kens how meickle,
Altho she was heir o Northumberland.
7 She's gane to her father's stable,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
And taen out a steed baith lusty and able,
For a' she was heir o Northumberland.
8 The rade till they came to Crafurdmoor,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
He bade her light down for an English whore,
Altho she was heir o Northumberland.
9 The rade till the came to the water o Clyde,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
He bade her light down, nae farer she should ride,
'For now I am at hame in fair Scotland.'
10 'Yonder view my castle,' said he;
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
'There I hae a wife and children three,
All dwelling at home in fair Schotland.
11 'O take me by the middle sae sma
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
And thro me oer your castle-wa,
For I darena gang hame to Northumberland.'
12 When she came to her father's yett,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
She durst hardly rapp thereat,
Altho she was heir o Northumberland.
13 Out then spoke her stepmother sour,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
She bad her pack off for an impudent whore,
'For thou shalt not be heir o Northumberland.'
14 Out then spock her bastard brother;
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
'She'll hae nae mair grace than God has gien her,
And she shall be heir o Northumberland.'
14 Out and spoke her father sae mild,
Waly's my love wi the life that she wan
'She's no the first maid a false Scot has beguild,
And she shall be heir o Northumberland.