50 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 65. 



promises much, as may be seen by the following 

 passage : — 



" It is noTV upwards of forty years since Sir Walter 

 Scolt published liis Border Minsirehy, and during bis 

 'raids,' as he facetiously termed bis excursions of dis- 

 covery in Liddesdale, Teviotdale, Tyndale, and the 

 Merse, very few ballads of any note or originality could 

 possibly escape his enthusiastic inquiry ; for, to his 

 love of ballad literature, he added the patience and re- 

 search of a genuine antiquary. Yet, no doubt many 

 ballads did escape, and still remain scattered up and 

 down the country side, existing prob.ibly in the recol- 

 lection of many a sun-browned shepherd, or the 

 •weather-beaten brains of ancient hinds, or ' eldern' 

 women : or in the well-thumbed and nearly illegible 

 leaves of some old book or pamphlet of songs, snugly 

 restino: on the 'pot-head,' or sharing their rest with 

 the ' Great Ha' Bible,' Scott's Worthies, or Blind Harry's 

 lines. The parish dciminie or pastor of some obscure 

 village, amid the many nooks and corners of the Bor- 

 ders, possesses, no doubt, treasures in the ballad- ware 

 that would have gladdened the heart of a llitson, a 

 Percy, or a Surtees ; in the libraries, too, of many an 

 ancient descendant of a Border family, some black- 

 lettered volume of ballads doubtlessly slumbers in hal- 

 lowed and unbroken dust." 



This reads invitingly ; the writer then pro- 

 ceeds : — 



" From such sources I have obtained many of the 

 ballads in the present collection. Those to which I 

 have stood godfather, and so baptized and remodelled, 

 I have mostly met with in the ' broad-side ' ballads, as 

 they are called." 



Although the writer here speaks of Ritson and 

 Percy as if he were acquainted with their works, 

 it is very evident that he had not looked into their 

 contents. The name of Evans' Collection had 

 probably never reached him. Alas ! we look in 

 vain for the tantalising "pamphlet of songs," — still, 

 perhaps, snugly resting on tiie " pot-head," where 

 our author in his " poetical dream " first saw it. 

 The " black-lettered volume of ballads " too, in 

 the library of the " ancient descendant of a Border 

 family," still remains in its dusty repository, un- 

 touched by the hand of Frederick Sheldon. 



In support of the object of this paper I shall 

 now point out " a few " of the errors of The Min- 

 strelsy of the English Bordei: 



P. 201. The Fair Flower of Northumherland : — 



" It was a knight in Scotland born. 



Follow my love, come over the Strand ; 

 Was taken prisoner, and left forlorn 



Even by the good Erie Northumberland." 



This is a corrupt version of Tliomas Deloney's 

 celebrated ballad of " The Ungrateful Knight," 

 printed in the Histor!/ of Jack of Newhery, lo9G, 

 and in Ritson's Ancient Songs, 1790. A Scottish 

 version may be found in Kinloch's Ballads, under 

 the title of "The Provost's Daughter." Mr. 

 Sheldon knows nothing of this, but says, — i 



" This ballad has been known about the English 

 Border for many years, and I can remember a version 

 of it being sung by my grandmother ! " 



He also informs us that he has added the last 

 verse but one, in order to make the "ends of 

 justice" more complete! 



P. 232. The Laird of Boslin's Daughter ; — 

 " The Laird of Roslin's daughter 



Walk'd through the wood her lane ; 

 And by her came Captain Wedderburn, 

 A servant to the Queen." 

 This is a wretched version (about half the original 

 length) of a well-known ballad, entitled " Captain 

 Wedderburn's Courtship." It first appeared in 

 print in The New British Songster, a collection 

 published at Falkirk, in 1785. It was afterwards 

 inserted in Jaraieson's Popular Ballads and Songs, 

 1806; Ivmloclis Ancient Ballads, 1826; Chambers' 

 Scottish Ballads, 1829, &c. But hear what Mr. 

 Sheldon has to say, in 1847: — 



" This is a fragment of an apparently ancient ballad, 

 related to me by a lady of Berwick-on-Tweed, who 

 used losing it in her childhood. I have given all that 

 she was able to furnish me with. The same lady 

 assures me that she never remembers having seen it in 

 print [ ! ! ], and that she had learr.t it from her nurse, 

 together with the ballad of ' Sir Patrick Spens,' and 

 several Irish legends, since forgotten." 

 P. 274. The Merchant's Garland: — 

 " Syr Carnegie 's gane owre the sea, 

 And's plowing thro' the main. 

 And now must make a lang voyage, 

 The red gold for to gain." 

 This is evidently one of those ballads which calls 

 Mr. Sheldon " godfather." The original ballad, 

 ! which has been " baptized and remodelled," is 

 , called " The Factor's Garland." It begins in the 

 following homely manner: — 



" Behold here's a ditty, 'tis true and no jest. 

 Concerning a young gentleman in the East, 

 Who bv his great gaming came to poverty, 

 And afterwards went many voyages to sea." 

 P. 329. The rare Ballad of Johnnie Fua .• — 

 " There were seven gipsies in a gang, 

 They were both brisk and bonny O ; 

 They rode till they came to the Earl of Castle's 

 house. 

 And there they sang so sweetly O." 

 This is a very hobbling version (from the recitation 

 of a " gipsy vagabond ") of a ballad frequently 

 reprinted. It first appeared in Ramsay's I'ea- 

 Table Miscellany; afterwards in Finlay's and 

 Chambers' Collections. None of these versions 

 were known to Mr. Sheldon. 



I have now extracted enough from the Min- 

 strelsy of the English Border to show the mode of 

 " ballad editing " as pursued by Mr. Sheldon. 

 The instances are sufficient to strengthen my po- 

 sition. 



One of the most popular traditional ballads still 



