章节正文
a trace of real history which has no parallel in the Russian
affair, and there is no room, says Professor Child, for the
supposition that it was voluntarily inserted by reciter or copyist,
to tally with the narrative in Knox's History.
On the other side, we have the name of Mary Hamilton occurring in a
tragic event of 1719, but then the name does not uniformly appear
in the variants of the ballad. The lady is there spoken of
generally as Mary Hamilton, but also as Mary Myle, Lady Maisry, as
daughter of the Duke of York (Stuart), as Marie Mild, and so forth.
Though she bids sailors carry the tale of her doom, she is not
abroad, but in Edinburgh town. Nothing can be less probable than
that a Scots popular ballad-maker in 1719, telling the tale of a
yesterday's tragedy in Russia, should throw the time back by a
hundred and fifty years, should change the scene to Scotland (the
heart of the sorrow would be Mary's exile), and, above all, should
compose a ballad in a style long obsolete. This is not the method
of the popular poet, and such imitations of the old ballad as
HARDYKNUTE show that literary poets of 1719 had not knowledge or
skill enough to mimic the antique manner with any success.
We may, therefore, even in face of Professor Child, regard MARY
HAMILTON as an old example of popular perversion of history in
ballad, not as "one of the very latest," and also "one of the very
best" of Scottish popular ballads.
ROB ROY shows the same power of perversion. It was not Rob Roy but
his sons, Robin Oig (who shot Maclaren at the plough-tail), and
James Mohr (alternately the spy, the Jacobite, and the Hanoverian
spy once more), who carried off the heiress of Edenbelly. Indeed a
kind of added epilogue, in a different measure, proves that a poet
was aware of the facts, and wished to correct his predecessor.
Such then are ballads, in relation to legend and history. They
are, on the whole, with exceptions, absolutely popular in origin,
composed by men of the people for the people, and then diffused
among and altered by popular reciters. In England they soon won
their way into printed stall copies, and were grievously handled
and moralized by the hack editors.
No ballad has a stranger history than THE LOVING BALLAD OF LORD
BATEMAN, illustrated by the pencils of Cruikshank and Thackeray.
Their form is a ludicrous cockney perversion, but it retains the
essence. Bateman, a captive of "this Turk," is beloved by the
Turk's daughter (a stapleincident of old French romance), and by
her released. The lady after seven years rejoins Lord Bateman: he
has just married a local bride, but "orders another marriage," and
sends home his bride "in a coach and three." This incident is
stereotyped in the ballads and occurs in an example in the Romaic.
(2)
Now Lord Bateman is YOUNG BEKIE in the Scotch ballads, who becomes
YOUNG BEICHAN, YOUNG BICHEM, and so forth, and has adventures
identical with those of Lord Bateman, though the proud porter in
the Scots version is scarcely so prominent and illustrious. As
Motherwell saw, Bekie (Beichan, Buchan, Bateman) is really Becket,
Gilbert Becket, father of Thomas of Canterbury. Every one has
heard how HIS Saracen bride sought him in London. (Robert of
Gloucester's LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF THOMAS BECKET, Percy Society.
See Child's Introduction, IV., i. 1861, and MOTHERWELL'S
MINSTRELSY, p. xv., 1827.) The legend of the dissolved marriage is
from the common stock of ballad lore, Motherwell found an example
in the state of CANTEFABLE, alternate prose and verse, like
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE. Thus the cockney rhyme descends from the
twelfth century.
Such are a few of the curiosities of the ballad. The examples
selected are chiefly chosen for their romantic charm, and for the
spirit of the Border raids which they record. A few notes are
added in an appendix. The text is chosen from among the many
variants in Child's learned but still unfinishedcollection, and an
effort has been made to choose the copies which contain most poetry
with most signs of uncontaminated originality. In a few cases Sir
Walter Scott's versions, though confessedly "made up," are
preferred. Perhaps the editor may be allowed to say that he does
not merely plough with Professor Child's heifer, but has made a
study of ballads from his boyhood.
This fact may exempt him, even in the eyes of too patriotic
American critics, from "the common blame of a plagiary." Indeed,
as Professor Child has not yet published his general theory of the
Ballad, the editor does not know whether he agrees with the ideas
here set forth.
So far the Editor had written, when news came of Professor Child's
regretted death. He had lived to finish, it is said, the vast
collection of all known traditional Scottish and English Ballads,
with all accessible variants, a work of great labour and research,
and a distinguished honour to American scholarship. We are not
told, however, that he had written a general study of the topic,
with his conclusions as to the evolution and diffusion of the
Ballads: as to the influences which directed the selection of
certain themes of MARCHEN for poetictreatment, and the processes
by which identicalballads were distributed throughout Europe. No
one, it is to be feared, is left, in Europe at least, whose
knowledge of the subject is so wide and scientific as that of
Professor Child. It is to be hoped that some pupil of his may
complete the task in his sense, if, indeed, he has left it
unfinished.
Ballad: Sir Patrick Spens
(Border Minstrelsy.)
The king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine o:
"O whare will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship of mine o?"
O up and spake an eldern-knight,
Sat at the king's right knee:
"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever saild the sea."
Our king has written a braid letter,
And seald it with his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.
"To Noroway, to Noroway,
To Noroway oer the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis thou maun bring her hame."
The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Sae loud, loud laughed he;
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blinded his ee.
"O wha is this has done this deed,
And tauld the king o me,
To send us out, at this time of the year,
To sail upon the sea?"
"Be it wind, be it weet, be it hall, be it sleet,
Our ship must sail the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis we must fetch her hame."
They hoysed their sails on Monenday morn,
Wi' a' the speed they may;
They hae landed in Noroway,
Upon a Wodensday.
They hadna been a week, a week
In Noroway but twae,
When that the lords o Noroway
Began aloud to say:
"Ye Scottishmen spend a' our king's goud,
And a' our queenis fee."
"Ye lie, ye lie, ye liars loud!
Fu' loud I hear ye lie!
"For I brought as much white monie
As gane my men and me,
And I brought a half-fou' o' gude red goud,
Out o'er the sea wi' me.
"Make ready, make ready, my merry-men a'!
Our gude ship sails the morn."
"Now ever alake, my master dear,
I fear a deadly storm!
I saw the new moon, late yestreen,
Wi' the auld moon in her arm;
And if we gang to sea, master,
I fear we'll come to harm."
They hadna sail'd a league, a league,
A league but barely three,
When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud,
And gurly grew the sea.
The ankers brak, and the top-masts lap,
It was sic a deadly storm;
And the waves cam o'er the broken ship,
Till a' her sides were torn.
"O where will I get a gude sailor,
To take my helm in hand,
Till I get up to the tall top-mast;
To see if I can spy land?"
"O here am I, a sailor gude,
To take the helm in hand,
Till you go up to the tall top-mast
But I fear you'll ne'er spy land."
He hadna gane a step, a step,
A step but barely ane,
When a bout flew out of our goodly ship,
And the salt sea it came in.
"Gae, fetch a web o' the silken claith,
Another o' the twine,
And wap them into our ship's side,
And let na the sea come in."
They fetchd a web o the silken claith,
Another o the twine,
And they wapped them roun that gude ship's side
But still the sea came in.
O laith, laith, were our gude Scots lords
To weet their cork-heel'd shoon!
But lang or a the play was play'd
They wat their hats aboon,
And mony was the feather-bed
That fluttered on the faem,
And mony was the gude lord's son
That never mair cam hame.
The ladyes wrang their fingers white,
The maidens tore their hair,
A' for the sake of their true loves,
For them they'll see na mair.
O lang, lang may the ladyes sit,
Wi' their fans into their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing to the strand!
And lang, lang may the maidens sit,
Wi' their goud kaims in their hair,
A' waiting for their ain dear loves!
For them they'll see na mair.
O forty miles off Aberdeen,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.
Ballad: Battle Of Otterbourne
(Child, vol. vi.)
It fell about the Lammas tide,
When the muir-men win their hay,
The doughty Douglas bound him to ride
affair, and there is no room, says Professor Child, for the
supposition that it was voluntarily inserted by reciter or copyist,
to tally with the narrative in Knox's History.
On the other side, we have the name of Mary Hamilton occurring in a
tragic event of 1719, but then the name does not uniformly appear
in the variants of the ballad. The lady is there spoken of
generally as Mary Hamilton, but also as Mary Myle, Lady Maisry, as
daughter of the Duke of York (Stuart), as Marie Mild, and so forth.
Though she bids sailors carry the tale of her doom, she is not
abroad, but in Edinburgh town. Nothing can be less probable than
that a Scots popular ballad-maker in 1719, telling the tale of a
yesterday's tragedy in Russia, should throw the time back by a
hundred and fifty years, should change the scene to Scotland (the
heart of the sorrow would be Mary's exile), and, above all, should
compose a ballad in a style long obsolete. This is not the method
of the popular poet, and such imitations of the old ballad as
HARDYKNUTE show that literary poets of 1719 had not knowledge or
skill enough to mimic the antique manner with any success.
We may, therefore, even in face of Professor Child, regard MARY
HAMILTON as an old example of popular perversion of history in
ballad, not as "one of the very latest," and also "one of the very
best" of Scottish popular ballads.
ROB ROY shows the same power of perversion. It was not Rob Roy but
his sons, Robin Oig (who shot Maclaren at the plough-tail), and
James Mohr (alternately the spy, the Jacobite, and the Hanoverian
spy once more), who carried off the heiress of Edenbelly. Indeed a
kind of added epilogue, in a different measure, proves that a poet
was aware of the facts, and wished to correct his predecessor.
Such then are ballads, in relation to legend and history. They
are, on the whole, with exceptions, absolutely popular in origin,
composed by men of the people for the people, and then diffused
among and altered by popular reciters. In England they soon won
their way into printed stall copies, and were grievously handled
and moralized by the hack editors.
No ballad has a stranger history than THE LOVING BALLAD OF LORD
BATEMAN, illustrated by the pencils of Cruikshank and Thackeray.
Their form is a ludicrous cockney perversion, but it retains the
essence. Bateman, a captive of "this Turk," is beloved by the
Turk's daughter (a stapleincident of old French romance), and by
her released. The lady after seven years rejoins Lord Bateman: he
has just married a local bride, but "orders another marriage," and
sends home his bride "in a coach and three." This incident is
stereotyped in the ballads and occurs in an example in the Romaic.
(2)
Now Lord Bateman is YOUNG BEKIE in the Scotch ballads, who becomes
YOUNG BEICHAN, YOUNG BICHEM, and so forth, and has adventures
identical with those of Lord Bateman, though the proud porter in
the Scots version is scarcely so prominent and illustrious. As
Motherwell saw, Bekie (Beichan, Buchan, Bateman) is really Becket,
Gilbert Becket, father of Thomas of Canterbury. Every one has
heard how HIS Saracen bride sought him in London. (Robert of
Gloucester's LIFE AND MARTYRDOM OF THOMAS BECKET, Percy Society.
See Child's Introduction, IV., i. 1861, and MOTHERWELL'S
MINSTRELSY, p. xv., 1827.) The legend of the dissolved marriage is
from the common stock of ballad lore, Motherwell found an example
in the state of CANTEFABLE, alternate prose and verse, like
AUCASSIN AND NICOLETTE. Thus the cockney rhyme descends from the
twelfth century.
Such are a few of the curiosities of the ballad. The examples
selected are chiefly chosen for their romantic charm, and for the
spirit of the Border raids which they record. A few notes are
added in an appendix. The text is chosen from among the many
variants in Child's learned but still unfinishedcollection, and an
effort has been made to choose the copies which contain most poetry
with most signs of uncontaminated originality. In a few cases Sir
Walter Scott's versions, though confessedly "made up," are
preferred. Perhaps the editor may be allowed to say that he does
not merely plough with Professor Child's heifer, but has made a
study of ballads from his boyhood.
This fact may exempt him, even in the eyes of too patriotic
American critics, from "the common blame of a plagiary." Indeed,
as Professor Child has not yet published his general theory of the
Ballad, the editor does not know whether he agrees with the ideas
here set forth.
So far the Editor had written, when news came of Professor Child's
regretted death. He had lived to finish, it is said, the vast
collection of all known traditional Scottish and English Ballads,
with all accessible variants, a work of great labour and research,
and a distinguished honour to American scholarship. We are not
told, however, that he had written a general study of the topic,
with his conclusions as to the evolution and diffusion of the
Ballads: as to the influences which directed the selection of
certain themes of MARCHEN for poetictreatment, and the processes
by which identicalballads were distributed throughout Europe. No
one, it is to be feared, is left, in Europe at least, whose
knowledge of the subject is so wide and scientific as that of
Professor Child. It is to be hoped that some pupil of his may
complete the task in his sense, if, indeed, he has left it
unfinished.
Ballad: Sir Patrick Spens
(Border Minstrelsy.)
The king sits in Dunfermline town,
Drinking the blude-red wine o:
"O whare will I get a skeely skipper
To sail this new ship of mine o?"
O up and spake an eldern-knight,
Sat at the king's right knee:
"Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor
That ever saild the sea."
Our king has written a braid letter,
And seald it with his hand,
And sent it to Sir Patrick Spens,
Was walking on the strand.
"To Noroway, to Noroway,
To Noroway oer the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis thou maun bring her hame."
The first word that Sir Patrick read,
Sae loud, loud laughed he;
The neist word that Sir Patrick read,
The tear blinded his ee.
"O wha is this has done this deed,
And tauld the king o me,
To send us out, at this time of the year,
To sail upon the sea?"
"Be it wind, be it weet, be it hall, be it sleet,
Our ship must sail the faem;
The king's daughter of Noroway,
'Tis we must fetch her hame."
They hoysed their sails on Monenday morn,
Wi' a' the speed they may;
They hae landed in Noroway,
Upon a Wodensday.
They hadna been a week, a week
In Noroway but twae,
When that the lords o Noroway
Began aloud to say:
"Ye Scottishmen spend a' our king's goud,
And a' our queenis fee."
"Ye lie, ye lie, ye liars loud!
Fu' loud I hear ye lie!
"For I brought as much white monie
As gane my men and me,
And I brought a half-fou' o' gude red goud,
Out o'er the sea wi' me.
"Make ready, make ready, my merry-men a'!
Our gude ship sails the morn."
"Now ever alake, my master dear,
I fear a deadly storm!
I saw the new moon, late yestreen,
Wi' the auld moon in her arm;
And if we gang to sea, master,
I fear we'll come to harm."
They hadna sail'd a league, a league,
A league but barely three,
When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud,
And gurly grew the sea.
The ankers brak, and the top-masts lap,
It was sic a deadly storm;
And the waves cam o'er the broken ship,
Till a' her sides were torn.
"O where will I get a gude sailor,
To take my helm in hand,
Till I get up to the tall top-mast;
To see if I can spy land?"
"O here am I, a sailor gude,
To take the helm in hand,
Till you go up to the tall top-mast
But I fear you'll ne'er spy land."
He hadna gane a step, a step,
A step but barely ane,
When a bout flew out of our goodly ship,
And the salt sea it came in.
"Gae, fetch a web o' the silken claith,
Another o' the twine,
And wap them into our ship's side,
And let na the sea come in."
They fetchd a web o the silken claith,
Another o the twine,
And they wapped them roun that gude ship's side
But still the sea came in.
O laith, laith, were our gude Scots lords
To weet their cork-heel'd shoon!
But lang or a the play was play'd
They wat their hats aboon,
And mony was the feather-bed
That fluttered on the faem,
And mony was the gude lord's son
That never mair cam hame.
The ladyes wrang their fingers white,
The maidens tore their hair,
A' for the sake of their true loves,
For them they'll see na mair.
O lang, lang may the ladyes sit,
Wi' their fans into their hand,
Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
Come sailing to the strand!
And lang, lang may the maidens sit,
Wi' their goud kaims in their hair,
A' waiting for their ain dear loves!
For them they'll see na mair.
O forty miles off Aberdeen,
'Tis fifty fathoms deep,
And there lies gude Sir Patrick Spens,
Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.
Ballad: Battle Of Otterbourne
(Child, vol. vi.)
It fell about the Lammas tide,
When the muir-men win their hay,
The doughty Douglas bound him to ride
- parallel [´pærəlel]
a.平行的 n.平行线 (初中英语单词) - spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- probable [´prɔbəbəl] a.大概的n.很可能的事 (初中英语单词)
- tragedy [´trædʒidi] n.悲剧；惨案；灾难 (初中英语单词)
- literary [´litərəri] a.文学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
- absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)
- captive [´kæptiv] n.俘虏；捕获物 (初中英语单词)
- beloved [bi´lʌvd] a.为....所爱的 n.爱人 (初中英语单词)
- incident [´insidənt] n.小事件；事变 (初中英语单词)
- prominent [´prɔminənt] a.突起的；凸出的 (初中英语单词)
- introduction [,intrə´dʌkʃən] n.介绍；引言；引导 (初中英语单词)
- chiefly [´tʃi:fli] ad.主要地；尤其 (初中英语单词)
- romantic [rəu´mæntik] a.传奇(式)的；浪漫的 (初中英语单词)
- collection [kə´lekʃən] n.收集；征收；募捐 (初中英语单词)
- contain [kən´tein] v.包含；容纳；抑制 (初中英语单词)
- treatment [´tri:tmənt] n.待遇；对待；治疗 (初中英语单词)
- scientific [,saiən´tifik] a.科学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
- deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)
- league [li:g] n.同盟；社团 (初中英语单词)
- barely [´beəli] ad.公开地；仅仅 (初中英语单词)
- waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
- narrative [´nærətiv] a.叙述的 n.记事 (高中英语单词)
- ballad [´bæləd] n.民歌，民谣 (高中英语单词)
- loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
- scotch [skɔtʃ] vt.&n.刻痕(于)；划伤 (高中英语单词)
- porter [´pɔ:tə] n.守门人；勤杂工人 (高中英语单词)
- illustrious [i´lʌstriəs] a.杰出的，显赫的 (高中英语单词)
- alternate [ɔ:l´tə:nit, ´ɔ:ltə:neit] a.交替的 v.轮流 (高中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- plough [plau] n.耕地 v.犁 (高中英语单词)
- distinguished [di´stiŋgwiʃt] a.卓越的，著名的 (高中英语单词)
- selection [si´lekʃən] n.选择；选拔；精选物 (高中英语单词)
- identical [ai´dentikəl] a.完全相同的 (高中英语单词)
- goodly [´gudli] a.适意的；漂亮的 (高中英语单词)
- silken [´silkən] a.丝制的；柔软光滑的 (高中英语单词)
- edinburgh [´edinbərə] n.爱丁堡 (英语四级单词)
- antique [æn´ti:k] a.古代的 n.古物(董) (英语四级单词)
- scottish [´skɔtiʃ, ´skɑtiʃ] a.&n.苏格兰人(的) (英语四级单词)
- staple [´steipəl] n.&vt.(用)钉书钉 (英语四级单词)
- version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən] n.翻译；说明；译本 (英语四级单词)
- appendix [ə´pendiks] n.附录；阑尾 (英语四级单词)
- unfinished [´ʌn´finiʃt] a.未完成的，未完工的 (英语四级单词)
- heifer [´hefə] n.小母牛 (英语四级单词)
- exempt [ig´zempt] vt.免除 a.免除的 (英语四级单词)
- traditional [trə´diʃənəl] a.传统的，习惯的 (英语四级单词)
- accessible [ək´sesəbəl] a.易接近的；可到达的 (英语四级单词)
- scholarship [´skɔləʃip, ´skɑlər-] n.学术成就；学问 (英语四级单词)
- evolution [,i:və´lu:ʃən] n.进化；发展；发育 (英语四级单词)
- uniformly [´ju:nifɔ:mli] ad.一致地，齐心地 (英语六级单词)
- saracen [´særəs(ə)n] n.&a.撒拉逊人(的) (英语六级单词)
- martyrdom [´mɑ:tədəm] n.殉难；牺牲 (英语六级单词)
- originality [ə,ridʒi´næliti] n.独创性；创举；新颖 (英语六级单词)
- poetic [pəu´etik] a.理想化了的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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