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第23章

ancient poems-第23章

小说: ancient poems 字数: 每页4000字

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'Oh; what dost thee mean; fair lady;' said he; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; 'The wild boar's killed my lord; and has thirty men gored; And thou beest a jovial hunter。'

'Oh; what shall I do this wild boar for to see?' Wind well thy horn; good hunter; 'Oh; thee blow a blast and he'll come unto thee; As thou beest a jovial hunter。'

Then he blowed a blast; full north; east; west; and south; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; And the wild boar then heard him full in his den; As he was a jovial hunter。

Then he made the best of his speed unto him; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; 'Swift flew the boar; with his tusks smeared with 'gore'; (11) To Sir Ryalas; the jovial hunter。

Then the wild boar; being so stout and so strong; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; Thrashed down the trees as he ramped him along; To Sir Ryalas; the jovial hunter。

'Oh; what dost thee want of me?' wild boar; said he; (12) Wind well thy horn; good hunter; 'Oh; I think in my heart I can do enough for thee; For I am the jovial hunter。'

Then they fought four hours in a long summer day; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; Till the wild boar fain would have got him away From Sir Ryalas; the jovial hunter。

Then Sir Ryalas drawed his broad sword with might; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; And he fairly cut the boar's head off quite; For he was a jovial hunter。

Then out of the wood the wild woman flew; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; 'Oh; my pretty spotted pig thou hast slew; For thou beest a jovial hunter。

'There are three things; I demand them of thee;' Wind well thy horn; good hunter; 'It's thy horn; and thy hound; and thy gay lady; As thou beest a jovial hunter。'

'If these three things thou dost ask of me;' Wind well thy horn; good hunter; 'It's just as my sword and thy neck can agree; For I am a jovial hunter。'

Then into his long locks the wild woman flew; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; Till she thought in her heart to tear him through; Though he was a jovial hunter。

Then Sir Ryalas drawed his broad sword again; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; And he fairly split her head into twain; For he was a jovial hunter。

In Bromsgrove church; the knight he doth lie; Wind well thy horn; good hunter; And the wild boar's head is pictured thereby; Sir Ryalas; the jovial hunter。



Ballad: LADY ALICE。



'THIS old ballad is regularly published by the stall printers。  The  termination resembles that of LORD LOVEL and other ballads。  See  EARLY BALLADS; Ann。  Ed。 p。 134。  An imperfect traditional copy was  printed in NOTES AND QUERIES。'


LADY ALICE was sitting in her bower window; At midnight mending her quoif; And there she saw as fine a corpse As ever she saw in her life。

'What bear ye; what bear ye; ye six men tall? What bear ye on your shoulders?' 'We bear the corpse of Giles Collins; An old and true lover of yours。'

'O; lay him down gently; ye six men tall; All on the grass so green; And to…morrow when the sun goes down; Lady Alice a corpse shall be seen。

'And bury me in Saint Mary's Church; All for my love so true; And make me a garland of marjoram; And of lemon thyme; and rue。'

Giles Collins was buried all in the east; Lady Alice all in the west; And the roses that grew on Giles Collins's grave; They reached Lady Alice's breast。

The priest of the parish he chanced to pass; And he severed those roses in twain。 Sure never were seen such true lovers before; Nor e'er will there be again。



Ballad: THE FELON SEWE OF ROKEBY AND THE FREERES OF RICHMOND。



'THIS very curious ballad; or; more properly; metrical romance; was  originally published by the late Doctor Whitaker in his HISTORY OF  CRAVEN; from an ancient MS。; which was supposed to be unique。   Whitaker's version was transferred to Evan's OLD BALLADS; the  editor of which work introduced some judicious conjectural  emendations。  In reference to this republication; Dr。 Whitaker  inserted the following note in the second edition of his HISTORY:…


This tale; saith my MS。; was known of old to a few families only;  and by them held so precious; that it was never intrusted to the  memory of the son till the father was on his death…bed。  But times  are altered; for since the first edition of this work; a certain  bookseller 'the late Mr。 Evans' has printed it verbatim; with  little acknowledgment to the first editor。  He might have  recollected that THE FELON SEWE had been already reclaimed PROPERTY  VESTED。  However; as he is an ingenious and deserving man; this  hint shall suffice。 … HISTORY OF CRAVEN; second edition; London;  1812。


When Sir Walter Scott published his poem of Rokeby; Doctor Whitaker  discovered that THE FELON SEWE was not of such 'exceeding rarity'  as he had been led to suppose; for he was then made acquainted with  the fact that another MS。 of the 'unique' ballad was preserved in  the archives of the Rokeby family。  This version was published by  Scott; who considered it superior to that printed by Whitaker; and  it must undoubtedly be admitted to be more complete; and; in  general; more correct。  It has also the advantage of being  authenticated by the traditions of an ardent family; while of Dr。  Whitaker's version we know nothing more than that it was 'printed  from a MS。 in his possession。'  The readings of the Rokeby MS。;  however; are not always to be preferred; and in order to produce as  full and accurate a version as the materials would yield; the  following text has been founded upon a careful collation of both  MSS。  A few alterations have been adopted; but only when the  necessity for them appeared to be self…evident; and the orthography  has been rendered tolerably uniform; for there is no good reason  why we should have 'sewe;' 'scho;' and 'sike;' in some places; and  the more modern forms of 'sow;' 'she;' and 'such;' in others。  If  the MSS。 were correctly transcribed; which we have no ground for  doubting; they must both be referred to a much later period than  the era when the author flourished。  The language of the poem is  that of Craven; in Yorkshire; and; although the composition is  acknowledged on all hands to be one of the reign of Henry VII。; the  provincialisms of that most interesting mountain district have been  so little affected by the spread of education; that the FELON SEWE  is at the present day perfectly comprehensible to any Craven  peasant; and to such a reader neither note nor glossary is  necessary。  Dr。 Whitaker's explanations are; therefore; few and  brief; for he was thoroughly acquainted with the language and the  district。  Scott; on the contrary; who knew nothing of the dialect;  and confounded its pure Saxon with his Lowland Scotch; gives  numerous notes; which only display his want of the requisite local  knowledge; and are; consequently; calculated to mislead。

The FELON SEWE belongs to the same class of compositions as the  HUNTING OF THE HARE; reprinted by Weber; and the TOURNAMENT OF  TOTTENHAM; in Percy's RELIQUES。  Scott says that 'the comic romance  was a sort of parody upon the usual subjects of minstrel poetry。'   This idea may be extended; for the old comic romances were in many  instances not merely 'sorts of parodies;' but real parodies on  compositions which were popular in their day; although they have  not descended to us。  We certainly remember to have met with an old  chivalric romance; in which the leading incidents were similar to  those of the FELON SEWE。

It may be observed; also; in reference to this poem; that the  design is twofold; the ridicule being equally aimed at the  minstrels and the clergy。  The author was in all probability a  follower of Wickliffe。  There are many sly satirical allusions to  the Romish faith and practices; in which no orthodox Catholic would  have ventured to indulge。

Ralph Rokeby; who gave the sow to the Franciscan Friars of  Richmond; is believed to have been the Ralph who lived in the reign  of Henry VII。  Tradition represents the Baron as having been 'a  fellow of infinite jest;' and the very man to bestow so valuable a  gift on the convent!  The Mistress Rokeby of the ballad was;  according to the pedigree of the family; a daughter and heiress of  Danby; of Yafforth。  Friar Theobald cannot be traced; and therefore  we ma

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