Ballads, English -- England -- Texts; Ballads, Scots -- Scotland -- Texts
A fragment of this piece is given in _Minstrelsy of the English Border_,
p. 230, under the title of _The Laird of Roslin's Daughter_. Riddles
like those in the following ballads are found in _Proud Lady Margaret_,
p. 83 of this volume, _The Courteous Knight_, in the Appendix, and _The
Bonny Hind Squire_, in _Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient
Ballads_, p. 42, Percy Society, vol. xvii.--three varieties of one
original: and in _Gifts from over Sea_, Appendix, p. 290. Also, in
several of the ancient Norse poems; in the ancient Danish ballad _Svend
Vonved_, Grundtvig, No. 18; in _Sven Svanehvit, Svenska F. V._, No. 45;
Hammershaimb's _Færöiske Kvæder_, ii. No. 4; Landstad's _Norske
Folkeviser_, p. 369; Erk's _Liederhort_, No. 153; Uhland, No. 1, 2, 3;
Erlach, iii. 37; _Wunderhorn_, ii. 407; Tschischka and Schottky,
_Oesterreichische Volksl._ p. 28; Haupt and Schmaler, _Volksl. der
Wenden_, i. No. 150, ii. No. 74; Talvj, _Volksl. der Serben_, ii. 77;
Goetze, _Stimmen des russischen Volkes_, p. 163; etc., etc. See
especially Grundtvig, i. 237, ii. 648, from whom we have borrowed some
of these references.
"The following copy was furnished from Mr. Herd's MS. by the editor of
the Border Minstrelsy, and the present writer has supplied a few
readings of small importance from his own recollection, as it was quite
familiar to him in his early youth." JAMIESON.
The Lord of Roslin's daughter
Walk'd thro' the wood her lane,
And by came Captain Wedderburn,
A servant to the king.
He said unto his serving men, 5
"Were't not against the law,
I would tak her to my ain bed,
And lay her neist the wa'."
"I am walking here alone," she says,
"Amang my father's trees; 10
And you must let me walk alane,
Kind sir, now, if you please;
The supper bell it will be rung,
And I'll be mist awa';
Sae I winna lie in your bed, 15
Either at stock or wa'."
He says, "My pretty lady,
I pray lend me your hand,
And you shall hae drums and trumpets
Always at your command; 20
And fifty men to guard you with,
That well their swords can draw;
Sae we'se baith lie in ae bed,
And ye'se lie neist the wa'."
"Haud awa frae me," she said, 25
"And pray lat gae my hand;
The supper bell it will be rung,
I can nae langer stand;
My father he will angry be,
Gin I be miss'd awa; 30
Sae I'll nae lie in your bed,
Either at stock or wa'."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account