The Knight And The Shepherd's Daughter

The Text is given here from Kinloch's MSS. He gives also three other versions and various fragments. The tale is also found amongst the Roxburghe Ballads, as The Beautifull Shepherdesse of Arcadia, in two broadsides printed about 1655 and 1680. This is the only English version extant. But earlier than any text of the ballad is a quotation from it in John Fletcher's The Pilgrim, iv. 2 (1621). The Scots versions, about a dozen in number, are far more lively than the broadside. Buchan printed two, of sixty and sixty-three stanzas respectively. Another text is delightfully inconsequent:--

'"Some ca' me Jack, some ca' me John,
Some ca' me Jing-ga-lee,
But when I am in the queen's court
Earl Hitchcock they ca' me."

"Hitchcock, Hitchcock," Jo Janet she said,
An' spelled it ower agane,
"Hitchcock it's a Latin word;
Earl Richard is your name."

But when he saw she was book-learned,
Fast to his horse hied he....'

Both this version (from the Gibb MS.) and one of Buchan's introduce the domestic genius known as the 'Billy-Blin,' for whom see Young Bekie, First Series, p. 6, ff.; Willie's Lady, p. 19 of this volume; and Cospatrick, p. 26.

The Story.--The King of France's auld dochter, disguised as a shepherdess, is accosted by Sweet William, brother to the Queen of Scotland, who gives his name as Wilfu' Will, varied by Jack and John. He attempts to escape, but she follows him to court, and claims him in marriage from the king. He tries to avoid discovery by pretending to be a cripple, but she knows him, refuses to be bribed, marries him, and finally reveals herself to him.

The dénouement of the story is reminiscent of The Marriage of Sir Gawain (First Series, pp. 107-118). A Danish ballad, Ebbe Galt, has similar incidents.

THE KNIGHT AND THE SHEPHERD'S DAUGHTER

1.
There was a shepherd's dochter
Kept sheep upon yon hill,
And by cam a gay braw gentleman,
And wad hae had his will.

2.
He took her by the milk-white hand,
And laid her on the ground,
And whan he got his will o' her
He lift her up again.

3.
'O syne ye've got your will o' me,
Your will o' me ye've taen,
'Tis all I ask o' you, kind sir,
Is to tell to me your name.'

4.
'Sometimes they call me Jack,' he said,
'Sometimes they call me John,
But whan I am in the king's court,
My name is Wilfu' Will.'

5.
Than he loup on his milk-white steed,
And straught away he rade,
And she did kilt her petticoats,
And after him she gaed.

6.
He never was sae kind as say,
'O lassie, will ye ride?'
Nor ever had she the courage to say,
'O laddie, will ye bide!'

7.
Until they cam to a wan water,
Which was called Clyde,
And then he turned about his horse,
Said, 'Lassie, will ye ride?'

8.
'I learned it in my father's hall,
I learned it for my weel,
That whan I come to deep water,
I can swim as it were an eel.

9.
'I learned it in my mother's bower,
I learned it for my better,
That whan I come to broad water,
I can swim like any otter.'

10.
He plunged his steed into the ford,
And straught way thro' he rade,
And she set in her lilly feet,
And thro' the water wade.

11.
And whan she cam to the king's court,
She tirled on the pin,
And wha sae ready's the king himsel'
To let the fair maid in?

12.
'What is your will wi' me, fair maid?
What is your will wi' me?'
'There is a man into your court
This day has robbed me.'

13.
'O has he taen your gold,' he said,
'Or has he taen your fee?
Or has he stown your maidenhead,
The flower of your bodye?'

14.
'He has na taen my gold, kind sir,
Nor as little has he taen my fee,
But he has taen my maidenhead,
The flower of my bodye.'

15.
'O gif he be a married man,
High hangit shall he be,
But gif he be a bachelor,
His body I'll grant thee.'

16.
'Sometimes they call him Jack,' she said,
'Sometimes they call him John,
But when he's in the king's court,
His name is Sweet William.'

17.
'There's not a William in a' my court,
Never a one but three,
And one of them is the Queen's brother;
I wad laugh gif it war he.'

18.
The king called on his merry men,
By thirty and by three;
Sweet Willie, wha used to be foremost man,
Was the hindmost a' but three.

19.
O he cam cripple, and he cam blind,
Cam twa-fald o'er a tree:
'O be he cripple, or be he blind,
This very same man is he.'

20.
'O whether will ye marry the bonny may,
Or hang on the gallows-tree?'
'O I will rather marry the bonny may,
Afore that I do die.'

21.
But he took out a purse of gold,
Weel locked in a glove:
'O tak ye that, my bonny may,
And seek anither love.'

22.
'O I will hae none o' your gold,' she says,
'Nor as little ony of your fee,
But I will hae your ain body,
The king has granted me.'

23.
O he took out a purse of gold;
A purse of gold and store;
'O tak ye that, fair may,' he said,
'Frae me ye'll ne'er get mair.'

24.
'O haud your tongue, young man,' she says,
'And I pray you let me be;
For I will hae your ain body,
The king has granted me.'

25.
He mounted her on a bonny bay horse,
Himsel' on the silver grey;
He drew his bonnet out o'er his een,
He whipt and rade away.

26.
O whan they cam to yon nettle bush,
The nettles they war spread:
'O an my mither war but here,' she says,
'These nettles she wad sned.'

27.
'O an I had drank the wan water
Whan I did drink the wine,
That e'er a shepherd's dochter
Should hae been a love o' mine!'

28.
'O may be I'm a shepherd's dochter,
And may be I am nane!
But you might hae ridden on your ways,
And hae let me alane.'

29.
O whan they cam unto yon mill
She heard the mill clap:
... ... ...
... ... ...

30.
'Clap on, clap on, thou bonny mill,
Weel may thou, I say,
For mony a time thou's filled my pock
Wi' baith oat-meal and grey.'

31.
'O an I had drank the wan water
Whan I did drink the wine,
That e'er a shepherd's dochter
Should hae been a love o' mine!'

32.
'O may be I'm a shepherd's dochter,
And may be I am nane;
But you might hae ridden on your ways,
And hae let me alane.

33.
'But yet I think a fitter match
Could scarcely gang thegither
Than the King of France's auld dochter
And the Queen of Scotland's brither.'

Frank Sidgwick

Frank Sidgwick was an English writer, publisher, and scholarly editor. He was instrumental in popularizing ballad and folklore studies in the early 20th century. Sidgwick co-founded the publishing company Sidgwick & Jackson, which became known for its contributions to literature and scholarship. Though not primarily known as a poet, his editorial and publishing efforts significantly impacted the literary culture of his time, emphasizing the academic study of traditional songs and verses.

Frank Sidgwick

The Wife Of Usher's Well

Frank Sidgwick, Simple Poetry

The Twa Sisters O' Binnorie

Frank Sidgwick, Simple Poetry

Young Benjie

Frank Sidgwick, Simple Poetry

Barbara Allan

Frank Sidgwick, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Cospatrick

The Text is that of Scott's Minstrelsy (1802). It was 'taken down from the recitation of a lady' (his mother's sister, Miss Christian Rutherford), and collated with a copy in the Tytler-Brown MS. The ballad is also called Gil Brenton, Lord Dingwall, Bangwell, Bengwill, or Brangwill, Bothwell, etc.

The Story is a great favourite, not only in Scandinavian ballads, but also in all northern literature. The magical agency of bed, blankets, sheets, and sword, is elsewhere extended to a chair, a stepping-stone by the bedside (see the Boy and the Mantle, First Series, p. 119), or the Billie Blin (see Young Bekie, First Series, pp. 6, 7, and Willie's Lady, p. 19). The Norwegian tale of Aase and the Prince is known to English readers in Dasent's Annie the Goosegirl<...

Frank Sidgwick

Fair Janet
The Text.--Of seven or eight variants of this ballad, only three preserve the full form of the story. On the whole, the one here given--from Sharp's Ballad Book, as sung by an old woman in Perthshire--is the best, as the other two--from Herd's Scots Songs, and the Kinloch MSS.--are slightly contaminated by extraneous matter.

The Story is a simple ballad-tale of 'true-love twinned'; but the episode of the dancing forms a link with a number of German and Scandinavian ballads, in which compulsory dancing and horse-riding is made a test of the guilt of an accused maiden. In the Scotch ballad the horse-riding has shrunk almost to nothing, and the dancing is not compulsory. The resemblance is faint, and the barbarities of the Continental versions are happily wanting in our ballad.

FAIR JANET

...
Frank Sidgwick

The Laird Of Knottington
The Text was sent to Percy in 1768 by R. Lambe of Norham. The ballad is widely known in Scotland under several titles, but the most usual is The Broom of Cowdenknows, which was the title used by Scott in the Minstrelsy.

The Story is not consistently told in this version, as in 11.3,4 the daughter gives away her secret to her father in an absurd fashion.

An English song, printed as a broadside about 1640, The Lovely Northerne Lasse, is directed to be sung 'to a pleasant Scotch tune, called The broom of Cowden Knowes.' It is a poor variant of our ballad, in the usual broadside style, and cannot have been written by any one fully acquainted with the Scottish ballad. It is in the Roxburghe, Douce, and other collections.

THE LAIRD OF KNOTTINGTON

1.
There ...
Frank Sidgwick

The Twa Sisters O' Binnorie
Texts.--The version here given is compounded from two different sources, almost of necessity. Stanzas 1-19 were given by Scott, compounded from W. Tytler's Brown MS. and the recitation of an old woman. But at stanza 20 Scott's version becomes eccentric, and he prints such verses as:--

'A famous harper passing by
The sweet pale face he chanced to spy ...

The strings he framed of her yellow hair,
Whose notes made sad the listening air.'

Stanzas 20-25, therefore, have been supplied from the Jamieson-Brown MS., which after this point does not descend from the high level of ballad-poetry.

The Story.--This is a very old and a very popular story. An early broadside exists, dated 1656, and the same version is printed in Wit Restor'd, 1658. Of Scandinavian ballads on the ...
Frank Sidgwick

The Gay Goshawk
The Text is from the Jamieson-Brown MS., on which version Scott drew partly for his ballad in the Minstrelsy. Mrs. Brown recited the ballad again to William Tytler in 1783, but the result is now lost, with most of the other Tytler-Brown versions.

The Story.--One point, the maid's feint of death to escape from her father to her lover, is the subject of a ballad very popular in France; a version entitled Belle Isambourg is printed in a collection called Airs de Cour, 1607. Feigning death to escape various threats is a common feature in many European ballads.

It is perhaps needless to remark that no goshawk sings sweetly, much less talks. In Buchan's version (of forty-nine stanzas) the goshawk is exchanged for a parrot.

THE GAY GOSHAWK

1.
'O well's me o' my g...
Frank Sidgwick

Young Bekie
The Text is that of the Jamieson-Brown MS., taken down from the recitation of Mrs. Brown about 1783. In printing the ballad, Jamieson collated with the above two other Scottish copies, one in MS., another a stall-copy, a third from recitation in the north of England, a fourth 'picked off an old wall in Piccadilly' by the editor.

The Story has several variations of detail in the numerous versions known (Young Bicham, Brechin, Bekie, Beachen, Beichan, Bichen, Lord Beichan, Lord Bateman, Young Bondwell, etc.), but the text here given is one of the most complete and vivid, and contains besides one feature (the 'Belly Blin') lost in all other versions but one.

A similar story is current in the ballad-literature of Scandinavia, Spain, and Italy; but the English tale has undoubtedly been affected by the charming legend of G...
Frank Sidgwick