Earl o Bran- Leyden (Edin) c1802 Heber Child A*
[My date. From a MS ( 22b.) in the Abbotsford Collection written by Richard Heber who got it from John Leyden (1775-1811). Leyden was collecting ballads for Scott via Heber. The chorus was not written out and was known by Leyden who did not supply it. This was supplied in Additions and Corrections and in 1904 designated A* by Kittredge. Child's notes follow.
R. Matteson 2011, 2018]
99 ff., 490 ff. 'The Earl o Bran,' "Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy," No 22 b, Abbotsford; in the handwriting of Richard Heber. Note at the end: I have not written the chorus, but Mr. Leyden, having it by him, knows how to insert it.
THE EARL O BRAN
1 Did ye ever hear o guid Earl o Bran
An the queen's daughter o the south-lan?
2 She was na fifteen years o age
Till she came to the Earl's bed-side.
3 'O guid Earl o Bran, I fain wad see
^y grey hounds run over the lea.'
4 'O kind lady, I have no steeds but one,
But ye shall ride, an I shall run.'
5 'O guid Earl o Bran, but I have tua,
An ye shall hae yere wael o those.'
6 The're ovr moss an the're over muir,
An they saw neither rich nor poor.
7 Till they came to aid Carl Hood,
He's ay for ill, but he's never for good.
8 'O guid Earl o Bran, if ye loe me,
Kill Carl Hood an gar him die.'
9 'O kind lady, we had better spare;
I never killd ane that wore grey hair.
10 'We'll gie him a penny-fie an let him gae,
An then he'll carry nae tiddings away.'
11 'Where hae been riding this lang simmer-day?
Or where hae stolen this lady away?'
12 'O I hae not riden this lang simmer-day,
Nor hae I stolen this lady away.
13 'For she is my sick sister
I got at the Wamshester.'
14 'If she were sick an like to die,
She wad na be wearing the gold sae high.'
15 Ald Carl Hood is over the know,
Where they rode one mile, he ran four.
16 Till he came to her mother's yetts,
An I wat he rapped rudely at.
17 'Where is the lady o this ha?'
'She's out wie her maidens, playing at the ba.'
18 'O na! fy na!
For I met her fifteen miles awa.
19 'She's over moss, an she's over muir,
An a' to be the Earl o Bran's whore.'
20 Some rode wie sticks, an some wie rungs,
An a' to get the Earl o Bran slain.
21 That lady lookd over her left shoudder-bane:
'O guid Earl o Bran, we'll a' be taen!
For yond 'r a' my father's men.
22 'But if ye'll take my claiths, I'll take thine,
An I'll fight a' my father's men.'
23 'It's no the custom in our land
For ladies to fight an knights to stand.
24 'If they come on me ane by ane,
I'll smash them a' doun bane by bane.
25 'If they come on me ane and a',
Ye soon will see my body fa.'
26 He has luppen from his steed,
An he has gein her that to had.
27 An bad her never change her cheer
Untill she saw his body bleed.
28 They came on him ane by ane,
An he smashed them doun a' bane by bane.
29 He sat him doun on the green grass,
For I wat a wearit man he was.
30 But aid Carl Hood came him behind,
An I wat he gae him a deadly wound.
31 He's awa to his lady then,
He kissed her, an set her on her steed again.
32 He rode whistlin out the way,
An a' to hearten his lady gay.
33 'Till he came to the water-flood:
'O guid Earl o Bran, I see blood!'
34 'O it is but my scarlet hood,
That shines upon the water-flood.'
35 They came on 'till his mother's yett,
An I wat he rappit poorly at.
36 His mother she's come to the door:
'O son, ye've gotten yere dead wie an English whore!'
37 'She was never a whore to me;
Sae let my brother her husband be.'
38 Sae aid Carl Hood was not the dead o ane,
But he was the dead o hale seeventeen.