Young Redin- Beattie (Edinburgh) pre1827 Child B
[Below is the source text from Ancient Scottish Ballads edited by George Ritchie Kinloch; 1827.]
Young Redin- Version B; Child 68 Young Hunting
Kinloch's Manuscripts, VII, p. 7, Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, p. 1; "from the recitation of Miss E. Beattie, of Edinburgh, a native of Mearnshire, who sings it to a plaintive and melancholy, though somewhat monotonous, air of one measure."
1 Young Redin's til the huntin gane,
Wi therty lords and three;
And he has til his true-love gane,
As fast as he could hie.
2 'Ye're welcome here, my Young Redin,
For coal and candle-licht;
And sae are ye, my Young Redin,
To bide wi me the nicht.'
3 'I thank ye for your licht, ladie,
Sae do I for your coal;
But there's thrice as fair a ladie as thee
Meets me at Brandie's Well.'
4 Whan they war at their supper set,
And merrily drinking wine,
This ladie has tane a sair sickness,
And til her bed has gane.
5 Young Redin he has followed her,
And a dowie man was he;
He fund his true-love in her bouer,
And the tear was in her ee.
6 Whan he was in her arms laid,
And gieing her kisses sweet,
Then out she's tane a little penknife,
And woundid him sae deep.
7 'O lang, lang is the winter nicht,
And slawly daws the day;
There is a slain knicht in my bouer,
And I wish he war away.'
8 Then up bespak her bouer-woman,
And she spak ae wi spite:
'An there be a slain knicht in your bouer,
It's yoursell that has the wyte.'
9 'O heal this deed on me, Meggy,
O heal this deed on me;
The silks that war shapen for me gen Pasche,
They sall be sewed for thee.'
10 'O I hae heald on my mistress
A twalmonth and a day,
And I hae heald on my mistress
Mair than I can say.'
* * * * *
11 They've booted him, and they've spurred him,
As he was wont to ride,
A huntin-horn round his neck,
And a sharp sword by his side;
In the deepest place o Clyde's Water,
It's there they've made his bed.
12 Sine up bespak the wylie parrot,
As he sat on the tree:
'And hae ye killd him Young Redin,
Wha neer had love but thee?'
13 'Come doun, come doun, ye wylie parrot,
Come doun into my hand;
Your cage sall be o the beaten gowd,
Whan now it's but the wand.'
14 'I winna come doun, I canna come doun,
I winna come doun to thee;
For as ye've dune to Young Redin,
Ye'll do the like to me;
Ye'll thraw my head aff my hause-bane,
And throw me in the sea.'
15 O there cam seekin Young Redin
Mony a lord and knicht,
And there cam seekin Young Redin
Mony a ladie bricht.
16 And they've til his true-love gane,
Thinking he was wi her;
. . . . . .
. . . . .
17 'I hae na seen him Young Redin
Sin yesterday at noon;
He turnd his stately steed about,
And hied him throw the toun.
18 'But ye'll seek Clyde's Water up and doun,
Ye'll seek it out and in;
I hae na seen him Young Redin
Sin yesterday at noon.'
19 Then up bespak Young Redin's mither,
And a dowie woman was scho:
'There's na a place in Clyde's Water
But my son wad gae throw.'
20 They've sought Clyde's Water up and doun,
They've sought it out and in,
And the deepest place in Clyde's Water
They've fund Young Redin in.
21 O white, white war his wounds washen,
As white as a linen clout;
But as the traitor she cam near,
His wounds they gushit out.
22 'It's surely been my bouer-woman,
O ill may her betide!
I neer wad slain him Young Redin,
And thrown him in the Clyde.'
23 Then they've made a big bane-fire,
The bouer-woman to brin;
It tuke not on her cheek, her cheek,
It tuke not on her chin,
But it tuke on the cruel hands
That pat Young Redin in.
24 Then They've tane out the bouer-woman,
And pat the ladie in;
It tuke na on her cheek, her cheek,
It tuke na on her chin,
But it tuke on the fause, fause arms
That Young Redin lay in.
_______________
Ancient Scottish ballads: recovered from tradition and never before ... edited by George Ritchie Kinloch
YOUNG REDIN
The introductory note to the ballad of " Eaul Richard" is the second volume of the Border Minstrelsy, mentions that, " There are two ballads in Mr. Herd's MSS. upon the following story, in one of which the unfortunate knight is termed Young Huntin. A fragment, containing from the sixth to the tenth verse, has been repeatedly published. The best verses are selected from both copies, and some trivial alterations have been adopted from tradition." The Editor has not seen Mr. Herd's MSS., and has therefore been unable to collate the present copy with the two versions mentioned in the above note. But, judging of the ballad of Earl Richard, as published by Sir Walter Scott, which, he says, is composed "of the best verses," selected from both those copies, the Editor is inclined to believe that the ballad of Young Redin differs essentially, both in incident and detail from either of them. The ballad of Lord William, in the same volume, is evidently founded on the same story.
This copy has been recovered from the recitation of Miss E. Beattie, of Edinburgh, a native of Mearns-shire, who sings it to a plaintive, though somewhat monotonous air of one measure.
YOUNG REDIN.
Young Redin's til [1] the huntin gane,
Wi' therty lords and three;
And he has til his true-love gane,
As fast as he could hie.
"Ye're welcome here, my young Redin,
For coal and candle licht;
And sae are ye, my young Redin,
To bide [2] wi' me the nicht."
"I thank ye for your licht, ladie,
Sae do I for your coal;
But there's thrice as fair a ladie as thee
Meets me at Brandie's well."
Whan they were at their supper set,
And merrily drinking wine,
This ladie has tane [3] a sair sickness,
And til her bed has gane.
Young Redin he has followed her,
And a dowie [4] man was he;
He fund his true-love in her bouer,
And the tear was in her ee [5].
Whan he was in her arms laid,
And gieing her kisses sweet,
Then out she's tane a little penknife,
And wounded him sae deep.
"O! lang, lang, is the winter nicht,
And slawly daws [6] the day;
There is a slain knicht in my bouer,
And I wish he war [7] away."
Then up bespak her bouer-woman,
And she spak ae wi' spite:—
"An there be a slain knicht in your bouer,
It's yoursel that has the wyte [8].
"O heal [9] this deed on me, Meggy,
O heal this deed on me,
The silks that war shapen for me gen Pasche [10],
They sall be sewed for thee."
"O I hae heal'd on my mistress
A twalmonth and a day,
And I hae heal'd on my mistress,
Mair than I can say."
They've booted him, and they've spurred him,
As he was wont to ride:—
A huntin horn round his neck,
And a sharp sword by his side;
In the deepest place o' Clyde's water,
It's there they've made his bed.
Sine up bespak the wylie parrot,
As he sat on the tree,—
"And hae ye kill'd him young Redin,
Wha ne'er had love but thee!"
"Come doun, come doun, ye wylie parrot,
Come doun into my hand;
Your cage sall be o' the beaten gowd,
When now it's but the wand."
"I winna come doun, I canna come doun,
I winna come doun to thee;
For as ye've dune [11] to young Redin,
Ye'll do the like to me;
Ye'll thraw my head aff my hause-bane [12],
And throw me in the sea."
O there cam seekin young Redin,
Monie a lord and knicht;
And there cam seekin young Redin,
Monie a ladie bricht.
And they hae til his true-love gane,
Thinking he was wi' her;
Footnotes:
1. til=to
2. bide= stay
3. tane= taken
4. dowie= dull
5. ee= eye
6. daws= dawns
7. war= was
8. wyte= blame
9. heal= conceal
10 Pasche= Easter
11. dune= dome
12. hause-bane= breast-bone
NOTES on YOUNG REDIN.
But there's thrice as fair a ladie as thee, Meets me at Brandies well.—p. 3, v. 3. " In the dark ages of Popery, it was a custom, if any well had an awful situation, and was seated in some lonely melancholy vale; if its water was clear and limpid, and beautifully margined with the tender grass; or if it was looked upon as having a medicinal quality; to gift it to some Saint, and honour it with his name. Hence it is, that we have at this day wells and fountains called, some St. John's, St. Mary Magdalen's, St. Mary's Well, &c."—Brand's Pop. Antiq. p. 82. These wells were the usual rendezvous of lovers, who attracted by their solitary situation, and impressed with the sacred character which they bore, as being dedicated to some holy person, believed that the vows of love and constancy breathed beside them, would burn with a purer and more lasting flame.
They were also believed to be the favourite haunts of water-nymphs and spirits, who delighted in their secluded beauty, and wantoned in their limpid streams. The reader need scarcely be reminded, that this belief, which is evidently derived from the heathen mythology, is alluded to in the tales of the Bride of Lammermoor, and the Monastery. In the latter of these (vol. 1, p. 312), the naiad of the fountain is invoked by the following charm:—" He cast the leathern brogue or buskin from his right foot, planted himself in a firm posture, unsheathed his sword, and first looking around to collect his resolution, he bowed three times deliberately towards the holly-tree, and as often to the little fountain, repeating at the same time, with a determined voice, the following rhyme:—
" Thrice to the holly brake—
Thrice to the well:—
I bid thee awake,
White maid of Avenel!
" Noon gleams on the Lake—
Noon glows on the Fell,—
Wake thee, O wake,
White maid of Avenel."
But as the traitor she cam near,
His wounds they gushed out p. 8, v. 21.
The superstitious belief that blood would issue from the wounds of a murdered person, at the approach, or touch of the murderer, is of great antiquity, and is still prevalent in Scotland among the lower orders. It was the practice, when a murder was committed, and where the circumstances attending it were mysterious, or the proof doubtful, to have recourse to the ordeal of making the suspected person lay his hand upon the dead body, in order to discover his guilt; for it was believed that if guilty, the wounds would instantly bleed at the touch. The Editor recollects of this ordeal having been practised at Aberdeen, about twenty years ago, on the occasion of the dead body of a pregnant woman having been fmnd in the neighbouring canal. It was suspected that she had been murdered by her sweetheart, the reputed father of the unborn infant, who was accordingly seized by the populace, and taken by force to the place where the dead body lay, in order to undergo this ordeal as a test of his guilt. It was said, that as soon as he touched the body, blood flowed from the nostrils; a circumstance, which, though it may have proceeded from natural causes, was decisive of his guilt in the eyes of the vulgar. As there was, however, no other proof against him, he was permitted to escape.
This ordeal was also practised on human bones which had remained long undiscovered, and which were believed to be the remains of some one who had been murdered and secretly buried.—In these cases, as suspicion could fall on no particular person, the people in the neighbourhood were assembled by the civil Magistrate to evince their innocence by this mode of purgation.—" As the said Andrew Mackie, his wife went to bring in some peets for the fire, when she came to the door she found a broad stone to shake under her
foot, which she never knew to be loose before; (he resolved with herself to see what was beneath it in the morning thereafter. Upon the 6th of Aprile, when the house was quiet, she went to the stone, and there found seven small bones, with blood, and some flesh, all closed in apiece of old suddled paper; the blood was fresh and bright. The sight whereof troubled her, and being airraid, laid all down again, and ran to Colline, his bouse being a quarter of an mile distant:—In the middle of the day, the persons alive who lived iu that house since it was built, being about twenty-eight years, were conveined by appointment of the civil Magistrate before Colline, myself, and others, and did all touch the bones, in respect there was some suspicion of secret murder committed in the place; but nothing was found to discover the same."—Telfair s True Relation of an Apparition, fyc. 1695.
The custom of laying the hand on the breast of a person who has died from natural disease, (which is done by every one who enters the room where the corpse lies), is undoubtedly allied to this belief, and is viewed by the vulgar as no idle ceremony. It is believed that it prevents one from dreaming of the dead person, and it is also practised to show the friendship borne towards the deceased, as evincing that they had no band in the death.