VOL. I.

1. Riddles Wisely Expounded.

P. 1. Rawlinson MS. D. 328, fol. 174 b., Bodleian Library.

I was unaware of the existence of this very important copy until it was pointed out to me by my friend Professor Theodor Vetter, of Zürich, to whom I have been in other ways greatly indebted. It is from a book acquired by Walter Pollard, of Plymouth, in the 23d year of Henry VI, 1444–5, and the handwriting is thought to authorize the conclusion that the verses were copied into the book not long after. The parties are the fiend and a maid, as in C, D, which are hereby evinced to be earlier than A, B. The "good ending" of A, B, is manifestly a modern perversion, and the reply to the last question in A, D, 'The Devil is worse than eer woman was,' gains greatly in point when we understand who the so-called knight really is. We observe that in the fifteenth century version, 12, the fiend threatens rather than promises that the maid shall be his: and so in E, V, 205.

Inter diabolus et virgo.

1 Wol je here a wonder thynge Betwyxt a mayd and pe fovle fende?

2 Thys spake pe fend to pe mayd : 'Beleue on me, mayd, to day.

3 'Mayd, mote y thi leman be, Wyssedom y wolle teche the :

4 All pe wyssedom off the world, Hyf pou wolt be true and forward holde.

5 'What ys byer þan ys [þe] tre?
What ys dypper pan ys the see?

All the ballads in Scott's Minstrelsy, excepting a few pieces, of which only 'Cospatrick' and 'The Bonny Hind' require mention, were translated in Historische und romantische Balladen der Schottischen Grenzlande, Zwickau, 1826-7, 7 small vols, by Elise von Hohenhausen, Willibald Alexis, and Wilhelm von Lüdemann, a work now rare, which has just come to hand. Registering these translations here, in 53 entries, would require an unwarrantable space.

6 'What ys scharpper pan ys pe porne? What ys loder pan ys þe horne?

7 What [ys] longger pan ys pe way? What is rader pan ys þe day?

8 What [ys] bether than is pe bred? What ys scharpper than ys pe dede?

9 What ys grenner pan ys pe wode? What ys swetter pan ys pe note?

10 'What ys swifter pan ys the wynd? What ys recher pan ys pe kynge?

11 'What ys eluer pan ys pe wex? What [ys] softer pan ys þe flex?

12 But pou now answery me,

Thu schalt for sope my leman be.'

13 Thesu, for by myld my3th,

As thu art kynge and knyzt,

14 Lene me wisdome to answere here ryzth, And schylde me fram the fovle wy3th !

15 Hewene ys heyer than ys the tre, Helle ys dypper pan ys the see.

16 Hongyr ys scharpper than [ys] be thorne, ponder ys lodder than ys pe horne.

17 'Loukynge ys longer than ys þe way, Syn ys rader pan ys the day.

18 'Godys flesse ys betur pan ys the brede, Payne ys strenger þan ys pe dede.

19 Gras ys grenner pan ys pe wode. Loue ys swetter pan ys the notte.

20 powt ys swifter pan ys the wynde, Ihesus ys recher pan ys the kynge.

21 Safer is zeluer than ys the wexs, Selke ys softer pan ys the flex.

22 'Now, thu fende, styl thu be;

Nelle ich speke no more with the !

22. Be leue. 31. the leman. 32. theche. 132. knyzt seems to be altered to knyt. 142. fold: cf. 12. 192. lowe. Pollarde is written in the left margin of 221. and WALTERVS POLLARD below the last line of the piece.

['Inter Diabolus et Virgo' is printed by Dr Furnivall in Englische Studien, XXIII, 444, 445, March, 1897.]

P. 2 f., 484 a, II, 495 a, IV, 439 a. Slavic riddleballads. Add: Romanov, I, 420, No 163 (White Russian).

2. The Elfin Knight.

P. 7. Of the custom of a maid's making a shirt for her betrothed, see L. Pineau in Revue des Traditions Populaires, XI, 68. A man's asking a maid to sew him a shirt is equivalent to asking for her love, and her consent to sew the shirt to an acceptance of the suitor. See, for examples, Grundtvig, III, 918. When the Elf in 'Elveskud,' D 9, Grundtvig, II, 116, offers to give Ole a shirt of silk, it is meant as a love-token; Ole replies that his true love had already given him one. The shirt demanded by the Elfin Knight may be fairly understood to have this significance, as Grundtvig has suggested. So, possibly, in 'Clerk Colvill,' No 42, A 5, I, 387, considering the relation of Clerk Colvill' and 'Elveskud.' We have silken sarks sewn by a lady's hand in several other ballads which pass as simple credentials; as in 'Johnie Scot,' No 99, A 12, 13, D 6, E 2, H 4, 5, II, 379, 385, 389; etc. Here they may have been given originally in troth-plight but not in 'Child Maurice,' No 83, D 7, F 9, II, 269, 272.

7, 8, 484 a, II, 495 a, III, 496 a, IV, 439 a, V, 205 b. Add: Les Conditions impossibles,' Beauquier, Chansons p. recueillies en Franche-Comté, p. 133.

White Russian. Šejn, Materialy, I, 1, 494, No 608 (shirt, etc.). Croatian, Marjanović, Dar i uzdarje,' p. 200, No 46.

8 ff. Questions and tasks offset by other questions and requisitions in the Babylonian Talmud. See Singer, Sagengeschichtliche Parallelen aus dem babylonischen Talmud, Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, II,

296.

11, note*, 12. The story of the two mares is No 48 of R. Schmidt's translation of the Çukasaptati, p. 68 ff.; that of the staff of which the two ends were to be distinguished, No 49, p. 70 f. The Clever Wench (daughter of a minister) appears in No 52, p. 73 ff., with some diversities from the tale noted at p. 12 b, 2d paragraph. More as to the Clever Wench in R. Köhler's notes to L. Gonzenbach's Sicilianische Märchen, now published by J. Bolte in Zeitschrift des Vereins für

Volkskunde, VI, 59. [See also Radloff, Proben der Volkslitteratur der nördlichen türkischen Stämme, VI, 191-202.]

17 f., 484 f., II, 495 f., IV, 439 f., V, 206. The Journal of American Folk-Lore, VII, 228 f., gives the following version, contributed by Miss Gertrude Deerow of Boston, in whose family the song has been traditional.

1 As I walked out in yonder dell,

Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time

I met a fair damsel, her name it was Nell,
I said, 'Will you be a true lover of mine?

2 'I want you to make me a cambric shirt Without any seam or needlework, And then you shall be, etc.

3 'I want you to wash it on yonder hill, Where dew never was nor rain never fell.

4 'I want you to dry it on yonder thorn, Where tree never blossomed since Adam was born.'

5' And since you have asked three questions of me, Let ev'ry rose grow merry in time Now and I will ask as many of thee,

And then I will be a true lover of thine.

6 'I want you to buy me an acre of land Between the salt sea and the sea-sand, And then, etc.

7 'I want you to plough it with an ox's horn, And plant it all over with one kernel of corn.

8 'I want you to hoe it with a peacock's feather, And thrash it all out with the sting of an adder, And then,' etc.

19 J. At p. 229 of the same are these stanzas from a version contributed by Mrs. Sarah Bridge Farmer, as learned from an elderly lady born in Beverly, Massachusetts.

Can't you show me the way to Cape Ann? Parsley and sage, rosemary and thyme Remember me to a young woman that's there, In token she's been a true lover of mine.

("The requirements which follow are identical with those of the previous version. There is an additional stanza: "-)

And when he has done, and finished his work, If he'll come unto me, he shall have his shirt, And then he shall be, etc.

The copy in The Denham Tracts, II, 358, from D. D. Dixon's tractate on The Vale of Whittingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1887, has been given from elsewhere at II, 495.

4. Lady Isabel and the Elf-Knight.

P. 25, B. Een Liedeken van den Heere van Haelewyn, with trifling verbal differences from Hoffmann's text, in Oude Liedekens in Bladeren, L. van Paemel, No 25. The copy in Nederlandsch Liederboek, Gent, 1892, II, 1, No 44, 'Van Heer Halewijn,' is Willems's.

27 a, 32 a, 37 b, 487 b. Lausen des Kopfes durch das Mädchen notes by R. Köhler to L. Gonzenbach's Sicilianische Märchen, now published by J. Bolte, Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, VI, 62. [Cf. Georgeakis et Pineau, Folk-lore de Lesbos, p. 257.]

29-37, 486 a, III, 497 a, IV, 441 a, V, 206 f. GG, HH, 'Der Ritter im Walde,' Herrmann u. Pogatschnigg, Deutsche V.-L. aus Kärnten, Salon-Ausgabe, p. 33; Es ritt ein Räuber wohl über den Rhein,' Wolfram, Nassauische Volkslieder, p. 61, No 33, resemble N-R: Liedlein von dreierlei Stimmen; eleven (two) warning doves, three cries, to father, mother, brother; huntsmanbrother rescues sister and disposes of the knight or robber.

Böhme, in his edition of Erk's Deutscher Liederhort, I, 118-146, 1893, prints twenty German versions under numbers 41, 42. Of these 41', 42, 42' are of oral derivation, and 42 is from Erk's papers. Böhme notes two other copies taken down from singing, and one in MS., which he does not give. Judging by what has been given, what has been withheld must be of trifling value.

486 a, V, 207 a, DD. So Als die wunderschöne Anna auf dem Brautstuhle sass,' Wolfram, p. 66 f., No 39 a; and No 39 b, which is even worse preserved. Again, 'Die wunderschöne Anna auf dem Rheinsteine,' K. Becker, Rheinischer Volksliederborn, p. 20, No 17. 37 f., A. Add: Der Reiter u. die Kaiserstochter,' K. Becker, Rheinischer Volksliederborn, p. 15, No 12. 41-44, III, 497 b, V, 207 a. Pair (or one of a pair) riding a long way without speaking. Add: 'Los dos hermanos,' Milá, Romancerillo catalan, 2d ed., p. 234, No 250: "Siete leguas caminaron, palabra no se decian." Add also: Afzelius (1880), I, 21, st. 22.

42 a, 488 a. Six Ruthenian copies (in two of which the girl is a Jewess), Kolberg, Pokucie, II, 20-25, Nos 21-26. White Russian versions of the ballad of the

Jewess in Šejn, I, 1, 490 f., Nos 604, 605; Romanov, I, II, 199, No 46.

P. 50, note ; IV, 441 b. Leprosy cured by (children's) blood. See G. Rua, Novelle del "Mambriano," pp. 84, 88 ff. The story about Constantine's leprosy (Reali di Francia, lib. 1, c. 1) occurs also in Higden's Polychronicon, Lumby, V, 122 ff., and in Gower, Confessio Amantis, bk. II, Pauli, I, 266 ff. See also Ben Jonson, Discoveries, ed. Schelling, p. 35 (G. L. K. and W. P. Few). [See Prym u. Socin, Kurdische Samm

lungen, pp. 35, 36. H. von Wlislocki, M. u. S. der Bukowinaer u. Siebenbürger Armenier, pp. 60, 61. The latter gives a number of references for the story about Constantine. Cf. also Dames, Balochi Tales, No 2, in Folk-Lore, III, 518.]

IV, 441 b, 3d paragraph. Another ballad (White Russian) in which the girl is burned, Šejn, Materialy, I, I, 492, No 606.

57. Da was derived "from the housekeeper at Methven." Sharpe's Ballad Book, ed. 1880, p. 130. IV, 442 a, 1st paragraph. Both hands are of the 18th century.

5. Gil Brenton.

P. 67. What is said of the bilwiz must be understood of the original conception. Grimm notes that this sprite, and others, lose their friendly character in later days and come to be regarded as purely malicious. See also E. Mogk in Paul's Grundriss der germ. Philologie, I,

1019.

72. Splendid ships. See also Richard Coer de Lion, 60-72, Weber's Metrical Romances, II, 5 f.; Mélusine, II, 438 f.

Some of the French ships prepared for the invasion of England in 1386 had the masts from foot to cap covered with leaves of fine gold: Froissart, ed. Buchon, X, 169. King Henry the Eighth in 1544 passed the seas in a ship with sails of cloth of gold: Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Life and Raigne of King Henry the Eighth, 1649, p. 513. When Thomas Cavendish went up the Thames in 1589, his seamen and soldiers were clothed in silk, his sails were of damask, "his top-masts cloth of gold." Birch, Memoirs of the Reign of Q. Elizabeth, 1754, I, 57.

of Taji Pascha, which opened to receive her. The "black heathen" ordered one of his slaves to slay him and bury him between the two. "Da wuchs Taji Pascha als eine Pappel aus dem Boden hervor, Sora Chenim wuchs als ein Rosenstrauch hervor. Zwischen diesen Beiden wuchs der schwarze Heide als ein Dornbusch hervor," etc. Radloff, Proben der Volkslitteratur der nördlichen türkischen Stämme, VI, 246.]

100. Looking over the left shoulder. I, 100 f., A 21, B 4; 103, E 1; 464, 21; 490, 14 (left collar-bane); 492, 3; III, 259, 20; 263, 20; 264, 24; 339, 7; 368, 11; 369, 13; 413, 37; 465, 35; 488, 32; 13, 13; 15, 18; 17, 8; 18, 4; 20, 6; 52, 5; 135, 24; 445, 11; 518, 9; 519, 10; 520, 9. [In IV, 11, 21, it is the right shoulder.]

At I, 464, III, 259, 263 f., 339, 368 f, 413, IV, 135, the person looking over the left shoulder is angry, vexed, or grieved; in the other cases, no particular state of feeling is to be remarked. Undoubtedly the look over the left shoulder had originally more significance, since, under certain conditions, it gave the power of seeing spectres, or future events (but looking over the right shoulder had much the same effect). See A. Kuhn, Sagen, u. s. w., aus Westfalen, I, 187, No 206, and his references; and especially Bolte, in Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde, VI, 205–07 (using R. Köhler's notes). After sowing hemp-seed in the Hallowe'en rite, you look over your left shoulder to see your destined lass or lad. See note to Burns's Hallowe'en, st. 16.

10. The Twa Sisters.

P. 124 a, 4th paragraph. The ballad in Schlegel's Reisen is simply a threnody in Esthonian marriage ceremonies over the carrying away of the bride to her husband's house, and is not to the point.

125, 493 b, II, 498 b, III, 499 a, IV, 447 b, V, 208 b. 'L'os qui chante :' M. Eugène Monseur has continued his study of this tale in Bulletin de Folklore, I, 39–51, 89-149, II, 219-41, 245-51. See also Bugiel in Wisła, VII, 339-61, 557-80, 665-85.

[See also Die Geschichte von zwei Freunden,' Socin u. Stumme, Dialekt der Houwara des Wad Sūs in Marokko, pp. 53, 115, Abhandlungen der Phil.-hist. Classe der K. Sächs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, XV.]

[On disclosure by musical instruments see Revue Celtique, II, 199; Hartland, Legend of Perseus, I, 193. F. N. Robinson.]

126 a. [For a parallel to the South African tale see Jacottet, Contes pop. des Bassoutos, p. 52.]

126 b. C is also translated by H. Schubart in Arnim's Tröst Einsamkeit, 1808, p. 146.

11. The Cruel Brother.

P. 144 a. For Frau von Weissenburg,' 'Frau von der Löwenburg,' 'Junker Hans Steutlinger,' see Erk, ed. Böhme, Nos. 102, 103, I, 360 ff.

144 b, 2d paragraph, V, 208 b. Add: Le Testament du Chien,' Bédier, Les Fabliaux, 2d ed., p. 473; Testament de la vieille Jument,' 'de la vieille Truie,' de la Chèvre,' Luzel, Chansons pop. de la Basse-Bretagne, II, 88-97. The Robin's Last Will,' Miss M. H. Mason's Nursery Rhymes and Country Songs, p. 41.

12. Lord Randal,

P. 153 a. German. Two other copies in Böhme's Erk, No 190 b, I, 582.

[154 a; IV, 449 b. Danish. Den forgivne Datter,' Grundtvig-Olrik, No 341, Ridderviser, I, 146 ff., two versions: A= Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, No 92, X, 358; B, that communicated to Professor Child by Professor Grundtvig and mentioned in I, 154. Olrik mentions 7 Swedish copies, 5 of them unprinted.]

156 a, III, 499 b, V, 208 b. Donna Lombarda.' See Archivio, X, 380. [See also 'Utro Fæstemø vil forgive sin Fæstemand,' in the Grundtvig-Olrik collection, No 345, Ridderviser I, 165 ff., 3 versions A-C (A, B, from MS. sources going back in part to the 16th century; C, from oral tradition, printed by Kristensen, Jyske Folkeminder, No 19, I, 49, No 56, X, 234). Olrik, in an elaborate introduction, studies the relations of the Danish ballad (which is found also in Norse, Bugge's MS. collections, No. 221) to 'Donna Lombarda' and to the history of the sixth century Lombard queen Rosemunda. He opposes the views of Gaston Paris, Journal des Savants, 1889, pp. 616 ff., and holds that 'Donna Lombarda,'' Utro Fæsteme,' (his No 345), Giftblandersken' (his No 344), Fru Gundela' (see above I, 156 b), and the Slavic ballads of the sister who poisons her brother at the instigation of her lover, are all derived from the saga of Rosemunda. He even regards 'Old Robin of Portingale,' No 80, II, 240, as related to theUtro Fæstemø.' See below, p. 295.]

156 b, 499 a, II, 499 a, III, 499. The ballad of the maid who poisons her brother and is rejected by the man she expects to win in Lithuanian, Bartsch, Dainu Balsai, I, 172 ff., No 123 a, b. More ballads of poisoning, sister poisoning brother at the instance of her lover, girl poisoning her lover, and at col. 306 one resembling Lord Randal, Herrmann, Ethnologische Mitteilungen aus Ungarn, I, cols 292-308 (with an extensive bibliography). Herrmann's collections upon this theme are continued from cols 89-95, 203–11. [Cf. the Danish ballad Tule Slet, Ove Knar og Fru Magnild,' Grundtvig-Olrik, No. 350, Ridderviser, I, 186, where, however, the murderess uses a knife.]

157. Compare, for dialogue and repetition, the Catalan ballad El Conde Arnau,' Milá, Romancerillo, No 78, p. 67; where, however, the first half of the third line is also regularly repeated in the fourth.

¿Tota sola feu la vetlla, muller lleyal? ¿Tota sola feu la vetlla, viudeta igual?'

'No la faig yo tota sola, Comte l'Arnau,

No la faig yo tota sola, valga 'm Deu, val!'

157 b. A is translated by Professor Emilio Teza. 'L'Avvelenatrice, Canzone Boema,' Padova, 1891, p. 12. [Atti e Memorie della R. Accademia di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padova, Nuova Serie, VII, 234.]

13. Edward.

P. 167, 501 b, III, 499 b, V, 209 b. 'Svend i Rosensgaard' is No 340 in the Grundtvig-Olrik collection of Danish ballads, Ridderviser, I, 142. Danish versions are limited to three, of which the second is a fragment and the third a copy from Norway in all but pure Danish. Of Swedish versions eleven are enumerated, besides a half-comic copy from a manuscript of 1640, or older, which is spun out to 33 stanzas. As before remarked, a palpable tendency to parody is visible in some of the Scandinavian specimens.

14. Babylon, or, The Bonnie Banks o Fordie.

P. 170, 501 b, II, 499 a, III, 499 f., IV, 450 a, V, 209 b.Hr. Truelses Døtre' is No 338 of the Danish ballads in the continuation of Grundtvig's collection by Dr. Axel Olrik, Danske Ridderviser, 1895, I, 114, where the ballad is subjected to a minute study. The existence of a ballad is mentioned in 1624, and indicated as early as 1598. There are Danish, Swedish, and Icelandic versions of the 17th century, and numerous later copies, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Färöe: Danish, in all, 10, one of the 17th century; Swedish 12, 4 of the 17th century; Norwegian 6; Färöe 4. Five of the Norwegian copies take the direction of the Icelandic and Färöe in the treatment of the story. Two varieties of the ballad may be specially distinguished: one in which we have the miracle of a light burning or a fountain (fountains) springing over the place where the maids were murdered (called by Olrik the legendary form), the other in which the career and fate of the sons are made prominent. The "legendary" versions are the older. In these the maids are regarded as martyrs, and popular religious observances in connection with the miraculous fountains and in commemoration of the murdered maids have been kept up into the present century. The story is localized in

not less than thirteen Danish accounts and others in Sweden.

II, 499 a, III, 500, V, 209 b. Add to the French ballads a copy, which has lost still more of the characteristic traits, obtained by M. Couraye du Parc in BasseNormandie: Études romanes dédiées à Gaston Paris, 1891, p. 47, No 10.

II, 499 a. A Ruthenian story like that of the Great Russian ballad in Kolberg, Pokucie, II, 30, No 33.

15. Leesome Brand.

Pp. 181, 502 a. German. Add: Böhme, Erk's Liederhort, I, 592 f., 'Der Reiter und seine Geliebte,' No 194 b, from Erk's papers, c, from oral tradition (fragments). Böckel, Das Begräbniss im Walde,' p. 33, No 47. Es gingen zwei Liebchen durch einen grünen Wald,' Wolfram, p. 89, No 63.

[P. 188 b.

·

17. Hind Horn.

'Horn Child.' See the edition by J. Caro, in Englische Studien, XII, 323 ff.]

190 a. Hereward will not drink unless the princess presents the cup: very like Horn here. Michel, Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, II, 18 f.

191, note *. Blonde of Oxford (Jehan et Blonde). See Suchier's edition, Œuvres poétiques de Philippe de Remi, Sire de Beaumanoir, II, 89, 99, 103.

193 a. That Horn Child, though much more modern in its present form than the Gest, "would seem to have been formed on a still older model" was suggested by T. Wright in 1835, and was the opinion of J. Grimm and of Ferdinand Wolf. Wolf maintains that Horn Child was the work of a popular jongleur, or vagrant minstrel, and that for this reason Chaucer put it among the "romances of prys," which are mentioned in Sir Thopas. Anyway, this must have been the form of the story which was known to Chaucer. Wolf, Ueber die Lais, p. 217 f.

Oude Liedekens in Bladeren, L. van
Hoffmann, No 2.

195 a (3). Paemel, No 28 199 a. Albanian.

p. 118.

=

De Grazie, Canti p. albanesi,

199 a, note *. Ring in betrothal. So in Twelfth Night, IV, 3, as Prior remarks, II, 277, apropos of 'Axel and Walborg', st. 44.

201, note. These talismans also in India: Tawney's Katha-Sarit-Ságara, II, 161.

502 b, 5th paragraph, III, 501 b, IV, 450 b. Add: Kolberg, Lud, IV, 23, No 146; VI, 166 f., No 332; XII, 115-118, Nos 221-224 (jumps seven tables and touches the eighth); XVI, 271, No 438; XVI, 272, No 440; Valjavec, p. 300, No 17; Kolberg, Mazowsze, II, 109, No 251. A soldier comes back after seven years' absence to his "widow;" drops ring into cup, and is recognized as her husband. Lud, XXI, 61, No 123.

20. The Cruel Mother.

P. 219 b, 504 a, II, 500 a, IV, 451 a, V, 212 a. Add: T, Wolfram, p. 90, No 64, Es hütet ein Schäfer an jenem Rain,' 'Die Rabenmutter;' Böhme's edition of Erk's Liederhort, I, 636, No 212 e; and to the literature several items at p. 637.

219 b, III, 502 b. Similar Slavic ballads: Polish, Kolberg, Lud, IV, 52, No 220; XII, 308 f., Nos 611, 612; XVII, 9, No 17; XVIII, 188, No 346; XXI,