English and Scottish Ballads Volume VI Part 27

When that they came before the Queen, 25 They fell on their bended knee; "A boon, a boon, our gracious queen, That you sent so hastily."

"Are you two fryars of France," she said, "As I suppose you be? 30 But if you are two English fryars, Then hanged you shall be."

"We are two fryars of France," they said, "As you suppose we be; We have not been at any ma.s.s 35 Since we came from the sea."

"The first vile thing that e're I did, I will to you unfold; Earl Marshal had my maidenhead, Beneath this cloth of gold." 40

"That's a vile sin," then said the King; "G.o.d may forgive it thee!"

"Amen, amen!" quoth Earl Marshal; With a heavy heart spoke he.

"The next vile thing that e're I did, 45 To you I'll not deny; I made a box of poyson strong, To poyson King Henry."

"That's a vile sin," then said the King, "G.o.d may forgive it thee!" 50 "Amen, amen!" quoth Earl Marshal; "And I wish it so may be."

"The next vile thing that e're I did, To you I will discover; I poysoned fair Rosamond, 55 All in fair Woodstock bow'r."

"That's a vile sin," then said the King; "G.o.d may forgive it thee!"

"Amen, amen!" quoth Earl Marshal; "And I wish it so may be." 60

"Do you see yonder's [a] little boy, A tossing of the ball?

That is Earl Marshal's eldest son, I love him the best of all.

"Do you see yonder's [a] little boy, 65 A catching of the ball?

That is King Henry's son," she said; "I love him the worst of all.

"His head is like unto a bull, His nose is like a boar,"-- 70 "No matter for that," King Henry cry'd, "I love him the better therefore."

The king pull'd off his fryar's coat, And appeared all in red; She shriek'd, she cry'd, and wrung her hands, 75 And said she was betray'd.

The King look'd over his left shoulder, And a grim look looked he; And said, "Earl Marshal, but for my oath, Or hanged shouldst thou be." 80

From Kinloch's _Ancient Scottish Ballads_, 247.

The Queen fell sick, and very, very sick, She was sick, and like to dee, And she sent for a friar oure frae France, Her confessour to be.

King Henry, when he heard o' that, 5 An angry man was he; And he sent to the Earl Marshall, Attendance for to gie.

"The Queen is sick," King Henry cried, "And wants to be beshriven; 10 She has sent for a friar oure frae France; By the rude, he were better in heaven!

"But tak you now a friar's guise, The voice and gesture feign, And when she has the pardon crav'd, 15 Respond to her, Amen!

"And I will be a prelate old, And sit in a corner dark, To hear the adventures of my spouse, My spouse, and her holy spark." 20

"My liege, my liege, how can I betray My mistress and my queen!

O swear by the rude, that no damage From this shall be gotten or gien!"

"I swear by the rude," quoth King Henry, 25 "No damage shall be gotten or gien, Come, let us spare no cure nor care For the conscience o' the Queen."

"O fathers, O fathers, I'm very, very sick, I'm sick, and like to dee; 30 Some ghostly comfort to my poor soul O tell if ye can gie!"

"Confess, confess," Earl Marshall cried, "And ye shall pardoned be:"

"Confess, confess," the King replied, 35 "And we shall comfort gie."

"O how shall I tell the sorry, sorry tale!

How can the tale be told!

I play'd the harlot wi' the Earl Marshall Beneath yon cloth of gold. 40

"O wasna that a sin, and a very great sin!

But I hope it will pardoned be:"

"Amen! Amen!" quoth the Earl Marshall, And a very fear't heart had he.

"O down i' the forest, in a bower, 45 Beyond yon dark oak tree, I drew a penknife frae my pocket To kill King Henerie.

"O wasna that a sin, and a very great sin!

But I hope it will pardoned be:" 50 "Amen! Amen!" quoth the Earl Marshall, And a very fear't heart had he.

"O do you see yon pretty little boy, That's playing at the ba'?

He is the Earl Marshall's only son, 55 And I loved him best of a'.

"O wasna that a sin, and a very great sin!

But I hope it will pardoned be:"

"Amen! Amen!" quoth the Earl Marshall, And a very fear't heart had he. 60

"And do you see yon pretty little girl, That's a' beclad in green?

She's a friar's daughter, oure in France, And I hoped to see her a queen.

"O wasna that a sin, and a very great sin! 65 But I hope it will pardoned be:"

"Amen! Amen!" quoth the Earl Marshall, And a fear't heart still had he.

"O do you see yon other little boy, That's playing at the ba'? 70 He is King Henry's only son, And I like him warst of a'.

"He's headed like a buck," she said, "And backed like a bear,"-- "Amen!" quoth the King, in the King's ain voice, 75 "He shall be my only heir."

The King look'd over his left shoulder, An angry man was he: "An it werna for the oath I sware, Earl Marshall, thou shouldst dee." 80

AULD MAITLAND.

From _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, i. 306.

"This ballad, notwithstanding its present appearance, has a claim to very high antiquity. It has been preserved by tradition; and is, perhaps, the most authentic instance of a long and very old poem, exclusively thus preserved. It is only known to a few old people upon the sequestered banks of the Ettrick, and is published, as written down from the recitation of the mother of Mr. James Hogg, who sings, or rather chants it, with great animation. She learned the ballad from a blind man, who died at the advanced age of ninety, and is said to have been possessed of much traditionary knowledge. Although the language of this poem is much modernized, yet many words, which the reciters have retained without understanding them, still preserve traces of its antiquity. Such are the words _springals_ (corruptedly p.r.o.nounced _springwalls_), _sowies_, _portcullize_, and many other appropriate terms of war and chivalry, which could never have been introduced by a modern ballad-maker[?]. The incidents are striking and well managed; and they are in strict conformity with the manners of the age in which they are placed.

"The date of the ballad cannot be ascertained with any degree of accuracy. Sir Richard Maitland, the hero of the poem, seems to have been in possession of his estate about 1250; so that, as he survived the commencement of the wars betwixt England and Scotland, in 1296, his prowess against the English, in defence of his castle of Lauder or Thirlestane, must have been exerted during his extreme old age.