Ballads of Robin Hood and other Outlaws Part 44

62.

'I'll do my best,' says Horsley then, 'Your honour shall see before I go; If I should be hanged at your mainmast, I have in my s.h.i.+p but arrows two.'

63.

But at Sir Andrew he shot then; He made sure to hit his mark; Under the spole of his right arm He smote Sir Andrew quite through the heart.

64.

Yet from the tree he would not start, But he clinged to it with might and main; Under the collar then of his jack He strake Sir Andrew through the brain.

65.

'Fight on, my men,' says Sir Andrew Barton, 'I am hurt, but I am not slain; I'll lay me down and bleed awhile, And then I'll rise and fight again.

66.

'Fight on, my men,' says Sir Andrew Barton, 'These English dogs they bite so low; Fight on for Scotland and Saint Andrew Till you hear my whistle blow!'

67.

But when they could not hear his whistle blow, Says Harry Hunt, 'I'll lay my head You may board yonder n.o.ble s.h.i.+p, my lord, For I know Sir Andrew he is dead.'

68.

With that they boarded this n.o.ble s.h.i.+p, So did they it with might and main; They found eighteen score Scots alive, Besides the rest were maimed and slain.

69.

My lord Howard took a sword in his hand, And smote off Sir Andrew's head; The Scots stood by did weep and mourn, But never a word durst speak or say.

70.

He caused his body to be taken down, And over the hatch-board cast into the sea, And about his middle three hundred crowns: 'Wheresoever thou lands, it will bury thee.'

71.

With his head they sailed into England again, With right good will and force and main, And the day before New Year's Even Into Thames' mouth they came again.

72.

My lord Howard wrote to King Henry's grace, With all the news he could him bring: 'Such a New Year's gift I have brought to your Grace As never did subject to any king.

73.

'For merchandise and manhood, The like is not to be found: The sight of these would do you good, For you have not the like in your English ground.'

74.

But when he heard tell that they were come, Full royally he welcomed them home; Sir Andrew's s.h.i.+p was the king's New Year's gift; A braver s.h.i.+p you never saw none.

75.

Now hath our king Sir Andrew's s.h.i.+p, Beset with pearls and precious stones; Now hath England two s.h.i.+ps of war-- Two s.h.i.+ps of war, before but one.

76.

'Who holp to this?' says King Henry, 'That I may reward him for his pain.'

'Harry Hunt, and Peter Simon, William Horsley, and I the same.'

77.

'Harry Hunt shall have his whistle and chain, And all his jewels, whatsoever they be, And other rich gifts that I will not name, For his good service he hath done me.

78.

'Horsley, right thou'st be a knight, Lands and livings thou shalt have store; Howard shall be Earl of Nottingham, And so was never Howard before.

79.

'Now Peter Simon, thou art old; I will maintain thee and thy son; Thou shalt have five hundred pound all in gold For the good service that thou hast done.'

80.

Then King Henry s.h.i.+fted his room.

In came the Queen and ladies bright; Other errands had they none But to see Sir Andrew Barton, knight.

81.

But when they see his deadly face, His eyes were hollow in his head; 'I would give a hundred pound,' says King Henry, 'The man were alive as he is dead!

82.

'Yet for the manful part that he hath played, Both here and beyond the sea, His men shall have half a crown a day To bring them to my brother, King Jamie.'

[Annotations: 13.4, 16.4: 'bread,' breadth.

23.3: 'arch-board,' stern (?) Cp. 29.2 and 'hatch-board,' 70.2.

28.1: 'dearly dight,' handsomely fitted out.

29.2: Cp. 23.3 and note.

47.2: _i.e._ 'wit [ye], howsoever this affair may turn out.'

53.1: 'swarved,' swarmed, climbed.

53.3: 'bearing arrow': perhaps a light arrow for long-distance shooting, but see 56.3; and cf. _Adam Bell_, 150.3.

63.3: 'spole,' spauld, shoulder.

64.3: 'jack,' coat of mail.

66.4: 'Till' may mean 'while.']

HENRY MARTYN

+The Text+ is from a copy taken down from North Devon tradition by the Rev. S. Baring Gould, and printed by Child; since when other versions have been found still in circulation in England. A Suss.e.x version, though perhaps derived from a Catnach broadside, is given in the _Journal_ of the Folk-Song Society, vol. i. 162.

+The Story.+--This ballad is undoubtedly a degenerate version of the preceding, _Sir Andrew Barton_, of which name, as Child says, Henry Martyn would be no extraordinary corruption. It is given here as an instance of the fate which awaits a popular ballad in the process of being sung to pieces.

HENRY MARTYN

1.

In merry Scotland, in merry Scotland There lived brothers three; They all did cast lots which of them should go A robbing upon the salt sea.

2.

The lot it fell on Henry Martyn, The youngest of the three; That he should go rob on the salt, salt sea To maintain his brothers and he.

3.

He had not a-sailed a long winter's night, Nor yet a short winter's day, Before that he met with a lofty old s.h.i.+p, Come sailing along that way.