Hi,

Child 12A is of mysterious origin and appears to be a composite of two versions (the refrain changes after stanza 5 and doesn't change back). Is there any more info about this MS that Macmath found? I've dated it 1808 but even this is a guess. Since it's found with other items dated 1710 that date has also been attached to Child A (Child dates this early 1800s). The attribution by Child is: "From a small manuscript volume lent me by Mr William Macmath, of Edinburgh, containing four pieces written in or about 1710 and this ballad in a later hand. Charles Mackie, August, 1808, is scratched upon the binding."

The other issue is the plot, in Child A, Lord Randal has gone hunting and there meets his sweetheart, an unlikely encounter. Walter Scott, who gives a version from his daughter (Child D), thinks the name should be "Lord Ronald" and many of the Carpenter versions use "Lord Ronald."

This next fragmented Carpenter version is only the ending with the "will" stanzas. The transcription is sketchy so I've added (in brackets) a few missing lines, which I assume were sung but not written down. There is no recording.

From: James Madison Carpenter Collection, JMC/1/2/2/K, p. 05616

    Lord Ronald- sung by Jean Barclay of Braefoot Cottage, Ythen Wells, collected about 1931.

"What'll ye leave to your father, Lord Ronald my son
What'll ye leave to your father, my handsome young man,"
"I'll leave my gray mare, mother mak my bed soon
[For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie doon."]

"What'll ye leave to your mother, Lord Ronald my son,
[What'll ye leave to your mother, my handsome young man,"]
"I'll leave her my gowd watch, Mother mak my bed soon
[For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie doon."]

What'll ye leave to your sister, Lord Ronald my son,
[What'll ye leave to your sister, my handsome young man,]
"I'll leave her my gowd ring, Mother mak my bed soon
[For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain would lie doon."]

What'll ye leave to your sweetheart, Lord Ronald my son
[What'll ye leave to your sweetheart, my handsome young man,]
I'll leave her arsenic and water, the thing she left me,
An' if that disna please her, she'll be hanged on a tree.

Richie