Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws Part 41

'Bid him meet me at Penman's Core, And bring four of his companie; Five earls sall come wi' mysel, Gude reason I suld honour'd be.

56.

'And if he refuses to do that, Bid him look for nae good o' me; There sall never a Murray after him Have land in Ettrick Forest free.'

57.

James came before the Outlaw keen, And served him in his ain degree; 'Welcome, James Pringle of Torsonse!

What tidings frae the king to me?'

58.

'He bids you meet him at Penman's Core, And bring four of your companie; Five earls will come with the king, Mae mair in number will he be.

59.

'And gif you refuse to do that, I freely here upgive wi' thee, There will never a Murray after thee Have land in Ettrick Forest free.

60.

'He'll cast your bonny castle down, And make a widow of your gaye ladye, He'll hang your merry men pair by pair In ony place where he may them see.'

61.

'It stands me hard,' the Outlaw said; 'Judge if it stands not hard with me; I reck not of losing of mysell, But all my offspring after me.

62.

'Auld Halliday, young Halliday, Ye sall be twa to gang wi' me; Andrew Murray, and Sir James Murray, We'll be nae mae in companie.'

63.

When that they came before the king, They fell befor him on their knee; 'Grant mercy, mercy, royal king!

E'en for His sake who died on tree.'

64.

'Siecan like mercie sall ye have; On gallows ye sall hangit be!'

'G.o.d forbid,' quo' the Outlaw then, 'I hope your grace will better be!'

65.

'These lands of Ettrick Forest fair, I wan them frae the enemie; Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them, Contrair all kings in Christentie.'

66.

All the n.o.bles said, the king about, Pitie it were to see him die: 'Yet grant me mercy, sovereign prince, Extend your favour unto me!

67.

'I'll give you the keys of my castell, With the blessing o' my fair ladye, Mak me the sheriff of the forest, And all my offspring after me.'

68.

'Wilt thou give me the keys of thy castell, With the blessing of thy fair ladye?

I'll mak thee sheriff of the Forest, Surely while upwards grows the tree; If you be not traitour to the king, Forfaulted sall ye never be.'

69.

'But, prince, what sall come o' my men?

When I go back, traitour they'll ca' me.

I had rather lose my life and land, Ere my merry men rebuked me.'

70.

'Will your merry men amend their lives?

And all their pardons I grant thee; Now, name thy landes where'er they be, And here I render them to thee.'

71.

'Fair Philiphaugh, prince, is my ain, I biggit it wi' lime and stane; The Tinnies and the Hangingshaw, My liege, are native steads of mine.

72.

I have mony steads in the forest shaw, But them by name I dinna knaw.'

73.

The keys of the castle he gave the king, With the blessing of his fair ladye; He was made sheriff of Ettrick Forest, Surely while upward grows the tree; And if he was not traitour to the king, Forfaulted he suld never be.

74.

Wha ever heard, in ony times, Siccan an outlaw in his degree Sic favour get before a king As did the Outlaw Murray of the forest free?

[Annotations: 2.1: 'biggit,' built.

5.4: 'courtrie,' courtiers.

8.1: 'redd,' advise.

14.4: 'frith,' wood.

16.4: 'whidderand,' whizzing.

22.3: 'Soudron,' Southron, _i.e._ southern, English.

26.4: 'rad,' afraid.

34.1: 'Gar ray,' cause to be arrayed, _i.e._ saddled.

34.3: 'graith,' equip, prepare.

41.2: 'mae,' more.

49.1: A ford on the Tweed, at the mouth of the Caddon Burn, near Yair.

64.1: 'Siccan,' such.

71.4: 'steads,' dwelling-places. Cp. farm-stead, home-stead.]

SIR ANDREW BARTON

+The Text+ is taken from the Percy Folio MS., but the spelling is modernised. There is another version, extant in broadsides to be found in nearly all the large collections; this, when set beside the Folio MS.

text, provides a remarkable instance of the loss a ballad sustained by falling into the hands of the broadside-printers. The present text, despite the unlucky hiatus after st. 35, is a splendid example of an English ballad, which cannot be earlier than the sixteenth century.

There is a fine rhythm throughout, and, as Child says, 'not many better pa.s.sages are met with in ballad poetry than that which tells of the three gallant attempts on the mainmast tree (stt. 52-66).'

+The Story+ told in the ballad is a piece of history, and belongs originally to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Andrew Barton was one of three sons of John Barton, a Scots trader whose s.h.i.+p had been plundered by the Portuguese in 1476; letters of reprisal were granted to the brothers Barton, and renewed to them in 1506 'as no opportunity had occurred of effectuating a retaliation.' It seems, however, that this privilege was abused, at least by Andrew, who was reported in June 1511 to Henry VIII. as seizing English s.h.i.+ps under the pretext that they were Portuguese. The king did not send Lord Charles Howard, as the ballad states--Lord Charles was not born till twenty-five years afterwards--but Sir Thomas and Sir Edward Howard set out against the pirate by Henry's leave. They took two s.h.i.+ps, not one, the meeting with Henry Hunt (st. 18) being the ballad-maker's invention. Lord Charles's fraudulent use of the 'white flag' in st. 37 is supported by Bishop Lesley's partisan account of the engagement, written _c._ 1570. The time-scheme of the ballad is unusually vague: it begins 'in midsummer-time,' and the punitive expedition starts on 'the day before midsummer even'--_i.e._ June 19, which agrees with the chronicles. The fight takes place within the week; but Lord Charles does not get home until December 29 (st. 71).

Hall's chronicle says that they returned on August 2.

Lord Charles Howard was created Earl of Nottingham in 1596; but the adoption of this into the ballad (st. 78) dates only our text. It is quite probable that it existed in a previous version with names and facts more correctly stated.