Hi,

I've leave Child 3 with a few more tidbits from Ireland (from my website):

The ballad was popular enough in Ireland to be parodied in "Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland," 1888 by William Butler Yeats. Only the opening was used in the poem:

THE FALSE BARON OF BRAY. written by T. W. Rolleston,

“AND where are we going?” said the fair young child
To the false false Baron of Bray, -
As mounted before him, she prattled and she smiled,
And looked in his face with her blue eyes mild,
As she rode on his charger away.

In his article (see The Modern Language Review, Vol. 12, No. 2, Apr., 1917, pp. 203-205) "The Fause Knight upon the Road," Joseph J. MacSweeney gives a version from County Dublin he learned in 1912 from his mother. He gives some background then the text:

The version of 'The Fause Knight upon the Road' which I record is, like all the known versions of this ballad, incomplete, for the last stanzas were not remembered, as is so very often the case. The traditional account of the climax is that the little child outwitted the false Knight, and forced him to reveal himself in his true character as the fiend. It is therefore possible that the latter was forced, on being known to the little child, to go away in a flame after the manner of his departure in some other cases. I here record the ballad as I heard it [7], though it would appear probable that the last two lines I quote belong to the fifth stanza, and that it is the last two lines of the latter stanza which should be left isolated.

The Old False Knight

1. 'Where are you going ?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'I am going to the school,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.

2. 'What have you on your back ?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'I have my books on my back,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.

3. 'What have you in your hand?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'A cut of bread and butter,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.

4. 'Will you give me a bite?' says the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'No not a crumb,' says the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.

5. 'Are you going down to Hell ?' said the old false knight,
To the pretty little child on the road;
'Who'll ring the bell ?' said the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.

6. . . . .
. . . .
'You may go there yourself,' said the pretty little child
That was scarcely seven year old.

* * * *

On to Carpenter and "False Sir John," I may start another thread- part 2 since this one is getting long.

Richie