May Collean- composite (Scot) 1829
[Composite from "The Scottish Ballads; Collected and Illustrated by R. Chambers" by Robert Chambers, 1829. His notes follow.
R. Matteson 2018]
“May Collean” first appeared, under the title of May Colvin, in Herd's Collection. A more extended version afterwards appeared in Mr Sharpe's Ballad Book. And Mr Motherwell has latterly printed Herd's copy, with some alterations, from a recited version. The present set is composed, according to the principle of this work, of the best verses of all these copies.
The ballad finds locality in that wild portion of the coast of Carrick, (Ayrshire,) which intervenes betwixt Girvan and Ballantrae. Carlton Castle, about two miles to the south of Girvan, (a tall old ruin situated on the brink of a bank which overhangs the sea, and which gives title to Sir John Cathcart, Bart. of Carlton,) is affirmed by the country people, who still remember the story with great freshness, to have been the residence of “the fause Sir John;” while a tall # eminence, called Gamesloup, overhanging the sea about two miles still farther south, and over which the road masses in a style terrible to all travellers, is pointed out as the place where he was in the habit of drowning his wives, and where he was finally drowned himself. The people, who look upon the ballad as a regular and proper record of an unquestionable fact, farther affirm that May Collean was a daughter of the family of Kennedy of Colzean, now represented by the Earl of Cassilis, and that she became heir to all the immense wealth which her husband had acquired by his former mal-practices, and accordingly lived happy all the rest of her days.
MAY COLLEAN.
1. OH, heard ye of a bludie knicht,
Lived in the south countrie?
He has betrayed eight ladies fair,
And drouned them in the sea.
2. Then next he went to May Collean,
A maid of beauty rare;
May Collean was this lady's name,
Her father's only heir.
3. “I am a knicht of wealth and micht,
Of tounlands twenty-three;
And you'll be lady of them a',
If you will go with me.”
4. “Excuse me, now, Sir John,” she said;
“To wed I am too young;
Without I have my parents' leave,
Wi' you I daurna gang.”
5. “Your parents' leave you soon shall have;
In that they will agree;
For I have made a solemn vow,
This nicht you'll go with me.”
6. From below his arm he pulled a charm,
And stuck it in her sleeve;
And he has made her go with him,
Without her parents' leave.
7. Of gold and silver she has got
With her twelve hundred pound;
And the swiftest steed her father had,
She has taen to ride upon.
8. Sae privily they went along,
They made nae stop nor stay,
Till they cam to a lonesome place,
That they call Bunion Bay.
9. It was a lonesome gruesome place;
Nae house to it was nigh;
The fatal rocks were high and steep;
And mane could hear her cry.
10. “Loup off your steed,” says fause Sir John,
“Your bridal bed you see:
Here have I drowned eight ladies fair;
The ninth one you shall be.”
11. “Is this your bowers and lofty towers,
So beautiful and gay?
Or is it for my gold,” she said,
“You take my life away?”
12. “Cast aff,” says he, “thy jewels fine,
Sae costly and sae brave;
They are ower gude and ower costly,
To throw in the sea-wave.
13. Cast aff, cast aff, your Holland smock,
And lay it on this stone;
It is ower fine and ower costly,
To rot in the saut sea foam.”
14. “Take all I have, my life to save,
Oh, good Sir John, I pray !
Let it never be said you killed a maid,
Upon her wedding day.”
15. “Strip, strip,” he cried, “now, every thing,
Even to your 'broidered shoon.
I have nae time to parley here;
This instant ’t maun be dune.”
16. “Oh, turn ye, then, about, Sir John,
And look to the leaf o' the tree;
It is not comely for a man,
A naked woman to see.”
17. He turned himself straight round about,
To look to the leaf o' the tree;
She has twined her arms about his waist,
And thrown him into the sea.
18. “Now lie thou there, thou fause Sir John,
Where ye thocht to lay me:
Although you stript me to the skin,
Your claes you've gotten wi' thee.”
19. “Oh help, oh help ! my May Collean
Oh help, or else I droun!
I'll take you home to your father's gates,
And safely set you doun.”
20. “No help, no help, thou fause Sir John,
No help nor pity to thee!
Ye lie not in a caulder bed,
Than the ane ye intended for me.”
21. Her jewels fine she did put on,
Sae costly, rich, and brave.
And then wi' speed she mounted his steed;
So well she did behave[1].
22. That lady fair was void of fear;
Her steed was swift and free;
And she has reached her father's gates,
Before the clock struck three.
23. Then first she called the stable groom;
He was her waiting man.
Sune as he heard his lady's voice,
He stood wi' cap in hand.
24. “Where have you been, fair May Collean?
Who owns this dapple grey?”
“It is a found one,” she replied,
“That I got on the way.”
25. Then out bespoke the wylie parrot
Unto fair May Collean:
"What hae ye done wi' fause Sir John
That went wi' you yestreen?"
26. “Oh, haud your tongue, my pretty parrot;
Lay not the blame on me;
And where you have a meal a-day,
Oh, now you shall have three.”
27. Up then bespake her father dear,
Frae his chamber where he lay:
“What aileth thee, my pretty Poll,
That you chat sae lang or day?”
28. “It was a cat cam to my cage-door,
I thocht 'twould have worried me;
And I was calling on May Collean
To take the cat from me.”
29. Then first she told her father dear
Concerning fause Sir John;
And neist she told her mother dear
The deed that she had done.
30. “If this be true, fair May Collean,
That you have told to me,
Before I either eat or drink,
This fause Sir John I'll see.”
32. Away they went, with one consent,
At dawning of the day,
Until they came to Carline Sands;
And there his body lay.
33. His body tall, by that great fall,
By the waves tossed to and fro,
The diamond ring that he had on,
Was broke in pieces two.
34. And they hae taken up his corpse,
To yonder pleasant green;
And there they hae buried the fause Sir John,
For fear he should be seen.
___________
1. “May Collean's appropriation of her lover's steed, though unromantic, may be justified by the example of the Princess of Cathay herself. Ariosto informs us that Angelica was never at a loss for a palfrey; when Orlando had seized one, from which she fell, she would steal another.
* Cerchipur, ch'altro furtole dia aita,
D'un altra bestia, come prima ha fatto.”
Ballad Book, p. 46.