2nd s. No 43., Oct. 25. '56.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



32d 



with each second line. It may be that I ought to 

 have raa(ley«Mr short lines in each stanza, instead 

 of two long ones. 



" Long Lankyn. 



" Said my lord to his ladye, as he mounted his horse, (his) 

 ' Take care of Long Lankyn Avho lies in the moss ' (bis'). 



Said my lord to his ladye, as he rode away, 



' Take care of Long Lankyn who lies in the clay. 



Let the doors be all bolted, and the windows all pinned ; 

 And leave not a hole for a mouse to creep in ! ' 



Then he kissed his fair ladye, and he rode away — 

 He must be in London before break of day. 



The doors were all bolted, and the windows were pinned. 

 All but one little window where Long Lankyn crept in. 



' Where is the lord of this house ? ' said Long Lankyn, 

 ' He is gone to fair London,' said the false nurse to him. 



' Where is the ladye of this house ? ' said Long Lankyn. 

 'She's asleep in her chamber,' said the falsd nurse to 



him. 

 ' Where is the heir of this house ? ' said Long Lankyn, 

 ' He's asleep in his cradle,' said the false nurse to him. 



* * (hiatus.) 



• We'll prick him and prick him all over with a pin. 



And that will make your Ladye to comedown to him.' 



So he pricked him and pricked all over with a pin ; 

 And the nurse held a basin for the blood to run in. 



Lady. ' Oh, nurse ! how you sleep — Oh, nurse ! how 

 you snore — 

 And you leave my little son Johnstone to cry 

 and to roar ! ' 

 Nurse. 'I've tried him with suck — and I've tried him 

 with pap — 

 Bo come down, my fair ladye, and nurse him in 

 your lap ! ' 

 Lad^. ' Oh, nurse ! how you sleep — oh, nurse ! how 

 you snore — 

 And you leave my little son Johnstone to cry 

 and to roar ! ' 

 Nurse. ' I've tried him with apples — I've tried him with 

 pears — 

 So, come down, my fair ladye, and rock him in 

 your chair.' 

 Lady. ' How can I come down ? 'tis so late in the night — 

 When there's no candle burning, nor fire to give 

 light.' 

 Nurse. ' You have three silver mantles as bright as the 

 sun — 

 So, come down, my fair ladye, by the light of 

 one. 



* * (hiatus.) 



Lady, ' Oh I spare me. Long Lankyn, Oh ! spare me till 

 12 o'clock, 

 Tou shall have as much gold as you can carry 

 on 3'our back.' 

 Long Lankyn. ' If I had as much gold as would build 

 me a tower. 



* * (hiatus.) 



Lady. ' Oh ! spare me. Long Lankyn, Oh ! spare me one 

 hour, 

 You shall have my daughter Betsy — she is a 

 sweet flower.' 

 Long Lankyn. ' Where is your daughter Betsy ? She 

 may do some good. 

 She can hold the silver basin to catch your 

 heart's blood 1 ' 



* * (hiatus.) 



Lady Betsy was sitting in her window so high, 

 And she saw her father as he was riding by. 



♦ Oh, father ! oh, father ! don't lay the blame on me, 

 'Twas the false nurse and Long Lankyn that killed 

 your Ladye ! ' 



* * (hiatus.) 



Then Long Lankyn Avas hanged on a gallows so 



high- 

 And the false nurse Avas burnt in a fire just by." 



M. H. R. 



FOLK LOBE. 



Dream Superstitions. — In the rural districts 

 many superstitions yet obtain of dreams on or after 

 particular occasions and days; various incanta- 

 tions are used to procure prophetic, or to escape 

 horrible ones (vide Aubrey's Miscellanies) ; and 

 many rude rhymes hand down the wisdom of the 

 " onelrocritical masters," as Sir Thomas Browne 

 calls them. The pages of " N. & Q." are well 

 adapted for the preservation of many of the above 

 hitherto unpublished, while references to those 

 already printed would oblige Scott of S — . 



Raven Superstition (1'* S. vii. 496.) — 



"A recent letter from Assens, in one of the Danish 

 isles, says : In no country in the world does there exist 

 so much superstition amongst the peasantry as in Den- 

 mark. Here the appearance of a raven in a village is 

 considered an indication that the parish priest is to die, 

 or that the church is to be burned down that year ; the 

 person who fasting meets a Jew is sure to be robbed 

 within a month ; two pins lying in the ground crossed 

 prognosticate the early death of a relative ; and the 

 breaking of a looking-glass indicates the ruin of a family. 



" But the most remarkable of all superstitions, and that 

 which is most deeply rooted, is that to drink the blood of 

 a man executed (executions take place in Denmark by 

 decapitation), is an infallible preservative against apo- 

 plexy and epilepsy. In consequence of this belief the 

 authorities are obliged to take great precautions to pre- 

 vent persons from approaching the scaffold at executions. 

 On the 20th of this month (August, 1856), two brigands, 

 named Boye and Olsen, were executed in the town, and 

 the authorities as usual employed a strong detachment of 

 soldiers to keep the spectators at a distance. But at the 

 moment the head of Olsen fell beneath the axe, two 

 peasant girls, eighteen years of age, slipped between the 

 soldiers, who were drawn up in two rows, rushed to the 

 scaffold, and received in cups with which they had pro- 

 vided themselves some of the flowing blood, and this 

 blood they hastily swallowed ! The thing was done 

 with such rapidity that it was impossible to prevent 

 them. The girls were at once arrested, and on being 

 taken before a magistrate they produced a letter written 

 by Olsen on the previous evening, in which he authorised 

 them to drink his blood. They were ordered for trial on 

 the charge of violating the regulations of the police." — 

 Galiqnani's Messenger. 



w.w. 



Malta. 



New Year's Superstition. — For years past, an 

 old lady, a friend of mine, has regularly reminded 



