Hi,

I just finished the "rough draft" of the headnotes for Gil Brenton, Child 5. Since they are not too long I'll post them, comments welcome, I'm sure there are some minor errors:

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[This Scottish ballad, about the virtue of a lord's intended bride, died out of tradition in the 1800s. In 1827 William Motherwell never would have expected its demise for he reported[1], "This ballad is very popular, and is known to reciters under a variety of names. I have heard it called Lord Bangwell, Bengwill, Dingwall, Brengwill, etc., and The Seven Sisters, or the Leaves of Lind." A ballad with a complex theme that's sixty to eighty stanzas was simply too long to print as a broadside and too long be remembered and sung by "the mouths of the peasantry." There is no evidence that ballad was collected in America so Motherwell's buoyant assessment of the ballad's popularity seems to be overblown. Shortly after Motherwell's Minstrelsy was published the ballad's popularity began to wane and only two other records of it were found[2]-- the last in 1881.

Child gives eight versions (A-H) and Bronson prints just three melodies with music. The music for Mrs. Brown's version (Child A, "Gil Brenton" or "Chil' Brenton") was written down by a novice musician, Mrs. Brown's nephew, Bob Scott, and is therefore unreliable. As Mrs. Brown's text was given by Child (see below), the two line stanzas are wanting a refrain, tho none was originally written down. A second music version of "Lord Bengwill" was given by William Motherwell and it appeared in his Minstrelsy (Appendix, p. xvi) with one stanza of text. "Lord Bengwill" was transcribed for Motherwell by Andrew Blaikie from Mary Macqueen also known as Mrs. William Storie of Lochwinnoch. Mary Macqueen was Crawfurd's principle informant and also was paid by Motherwell along with her brother Thomas to collect ballads. A third melody was arranged by William Christie (Traditional Ballad Airs, Volume 2, 1881) from the singing of his paternal grandfather, and was sung with the refrain, "Aye, the Birks a-bowing."

Child begins his headnotes by saying[3], "Eight copies of this ballad are extant. . ." which is not entirely accurate. Although Child lists Motherwell's b version, he does not list it as a separate ballad sung by Mrs. Storie. Child did not know the informant since Motherwell just gave one stanza with music. The source and transcriber (Andrew Blaikie of Paisley) were not given. It was not until 1975 when Emily B. Lyle transcribed Andrew Crawfurd's MS that "Lord Bangwell's Adventure" was accessible. Motherwell knew of the MS but for some reason did not print the full text. Here is the missing text:

Fc. "Lord Bangwell's Adventure" from Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads and Songs, p. 3-5, sung by Mary Macqueen of Lochwinnoch.

1 Seven ladies liv'd in a bower
He down and ho down
An ay the youngest was the flower
He down and ho down

2 They had ae brither amangst them aw
And Sir John they did him caw

3 The seven had to mak him a sark
It was the seven's hale year's wark

4 But whan the sark it was made an dune
They cast lots wha wad with it gang
But the lot fell on the youngest ane

5 As she was gawn through the leaves o Lyne
She met a lord gallant an fine

6 He kept her thare sae lang sae lang
Frae the morning bright to the sune gade doun

7. An frae that again till the next morning,
An aw he gade her at their parting
Was a pair o green gloves a gay gold ring

8 An three plaits o his yellow hair
That was a token if air thay shoud meet mair

9 But whan nine months was past an gane
Lord Bangwell buit a courting gang

10 As he was walking through yon green hall
He saw se'en ladies playan at the baw

11 He threw his baw amang them aw
An on the youngest the baw did faw

12 He threw his gloves amang them aw
An on the youngest the gloves did faw

13 He threw his napkin amang them aw
An on the youngest it did faw

14 He cryde whare will I get a man,
To come and my young bride on.

15 Tha war nane sae readie as Sir John
To come and help his sister on

16 Than out bespak our foremaist man
I think our bride rides slowlie on

17 Then out bespak our hindmaist man
I think our bride rides weepand on

18 O does the wind blaw on your glove
Or are you bound for sum other love

19 Or ar you weary o your life
Because your made Lord Bangwell's wife

20 The wind does not blow on my glove
Nor I am bound for nae other love

21 But I am weary of my life
Because I am made Lord Bangwell's wife

22 As they at Wedding supper sat
An unco pain come in o her back

23 And as they lay aw in Bride's bed
He put his hand for to hap his bride
An there he fand the young thing leap

24 He tok his fit and he gade her a bang
And out o bed himsel he flang

25 He to the hall amang them aw
An on his mother he gade a caw

26 I thought I got a lily flower
But I hae got sume ither man's hure

27 I thought I got a maid meek an mild
But I got a whore an sho is big wi child

28 O dochter O dochter cum tell me
Wha is the faither o your babee

29 As I was walking the leaves of Lyne
I met a lord gallant and fine

30 He kept me there sae lang sae lang
From the morning bright to the sun gade doun

31 An frae that again till the next morning
An aw he gade me at our parting
Was a pair of green gloves and a gay gold ring

32 An thrie plaits of his yellow hair
That was a token if ere we soud meet mair

33 O dochter O dochter cum tell to me
Where is the green

34 O mother O mother gang to the haw
An there ye'll find them wi my claes aw

35 An whan she fand them she kent her son
For on the gloves was writ her name

36 She to the haw amang them aw
And on her son she gade a caw

37 O son O son cum tell to me
Whaur is the green gloves that I gade thee

38 As I was walking the leaves o Lyne
I met a lady gallant an fine

39 I kept her thare sae lang sae lang
Frae the morning bright till the sun gade doun

40 And frae that again till the next morning
An aw I gade her at our parting
It was thir green gloves a gay gold ring

41 An three plaits of my yellow hair
That was a token if ere we soud meet mair

42 An I wad rather than castles and towers
I had that same lady in my bower

43 I wad rather than my very life
I had that same lady for my wife

44 Ye wad not need rather than castles and towers
For ye hae that same lady in your bower

45 You need not rather than your very life
For ye hae that same lady for your wife

46 Go hap my lady wi quilts o' silk
And feed my young son wi woman's milk

47 These words were written on its breast bane
It was Lord Bangwell's sevent son

48 Thae words wore written on its right hand
It was to be heir of aw Lord Bangwell's land.

Macqueen's ballad is shorter than most and uses the standard "Hey down" refrain. In his 1881 book, "Traditional Ballad Airs, Volume 2," William Christie produced an even shorter text (my Db) that "was somewhat like the one given by Mr Buchan, which is here epitomized with some alterations[4]."

Db. "Aye the Birks a-bowing" or, "Lord Dingwall."

1. O we were sisters, sisters seven,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
The fairest women under heaven,
And aye the birks a-bowing.

2. And we kiest kevels us amang,
   A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
Wha wou'd now to the greenwood gang,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

3. A' for to pu' the finest flowers,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
To put around our summer bowers,
And aye the birks a-bowing.

4. I was the youngest o' them a',
A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
And this fortune did me befa',
And aye the birks a-bowing.

5. Unto the greenwood I did gang,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
And pu'd the nuts as they down hang,
And aye the birks a-bowing,

6. I hadna stay'd an hour but ane,
A-bowing down, a bowing down;
Till I met wi' a gay young man,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

7. We pu'd the nuts sae late and lang,
   A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
Till the evening set, and the birds they sang,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

8. He gae to me at our parting,
   A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
A chain of gold, and gay gold ring,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

9. And three locks o' his yellow hair,
   A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
And bade me keep them for evermair,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

10. Then for to show I make nae lee,
   A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
Look in my trunk and ye will see,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

11. His mother to the trunk did go,
   A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
To see if that were true or no,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

12. And aye she sought, and aye she flang,
   A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
Till these four things came to her hand,
   And aye the birks a-bowing.

13. Then she ran to her son Lord Dingwall,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
And said, "My son, ye'll quickly tell,
And aye the birks a-bowing.

14. Ye'll quickly tell to me this thing,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
What did you wi' my wedding ring?
And aye the birks a-bowing."

15. "O mother dear, I'll tell nae lee,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
I gave it to a gay ladie,
And aye the birks a-bowing.

16. I would gi'e a' my ha's and towers,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down,
I had this ladie within my bowers,
And aye the birks a-bowing."

17. "Keep well, keep well, your lands and strands,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
Ye hae that ladie within your hands,
And aye the birks a-bowing.

18. Now, my son, to your bower ye'll go,
A-bowing down, a-bowing down;
And comfort your ladie, she's full of woe,
   And aye the birks a-bowing."

Neither Macqueen's text or Christie's were given by Child whose A version was reserved for one of the eminent Scottish traditional singers: Anna Gordon Brown or "Mrs. Brown" of Old Machar, Aberdeenshire. Mrs. Brown learned her ballads from "her aunt, her mother and an old nurse of the family[5]." In 1783 Mrs. Brown prepared manuscripts of twenty ballad for William Tytler (5Aa, Jamieson-Brown MSS) who later requested the tunes be added. Mrs Brown's nephew Bob Scott, a "mere novice in musick" wrote out fifteen tunes (5Ab, William Tytler-Brown MSS) which were sent to William Tytler and later copied by Joseph Ritson. The first MSS was given to Jamieson, while the MSS with tunes disappeared, leaving only Ritson's copy which is now at the Harvard Library. In the Jamieson's copy the intended husband is "Gil Brenton" while in the William Tytler MS he is "Chil' Brenton." The ballad text, as properly arranged by Child[6], is wanting of a refrain, which may have been omitted by Brown's source presumable to shorten the duration of the 76 stanza version. Only a few stanza are given:

1    Gil Brenton has sent oer the fame,
He's woo'd a wife an brought her hame.

2    Full sevenscore o ships came her wi,
The lady by the greenwood tree.

3    There was twal an twal wi beer an wine,
An twal an twal wi muskadine:

The ballad story, much simplified and including other versions, is this: Gil Brenton has selected a wife and brought her home. There's only one problem, it is later revealed that she's pregnant. When his mother is sent to question his intended bride, the bride admits a dalliance with a young man who gave her certain tokens (a lock of his hair, a string of beads, a gold ring, and a knife) which she must keep. After his mother examines the tokens she realizes that they are the very same tokens she had given her son. The maid was pregnant by her son, the intended groom! His mother goes and questions her son who admits he gave the tokens to a maid who he now wishes were his wife. His mother then explains that his earlier lover is, in fact, his intended bride. Months later after they are married, a son is born and on his breast bone is written "Gil Brenton is my father's name."

Anna Brown's ballad ends as such:

73    Now or a month was come an gone,
This lady bare a bonny young son.

74    An it was well written on his breast-bane
'Gil brenton is my father's name.'

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Child B, "Cospatrick," is from Sir Walter Scott's Minstrelsy, ii, 117 (1802). It is a composite, arranged by Scott from the recitation of his relative Miss Christian Rutherford with text borrowed from Herd's "Bothwell," and Mrs. Brown's "Child Brenton." According to Scott: "Cospatrick (Comes Patricius) was the designation of the Earl of Dunbar, in the days of Wallace and Bruce[7]."

The name, Cospatrick, is apparently from Major Henry Hutton of the Royal Artillery who sent three stanzas to Scott (24th December, 1802 Letters, I, No 77) as recollected by his father and the family ("Scotch Ballads, Materials for Border Minstrelsy," No 18).

Eight years after Scott's sixty-one stanza composite a version, "We were sisters, we were seven," was published in Cromek's "Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song," p. 207, (1810) arranged from "a peasant woman of Galloway, upwards of ninety-years of age" by Alan Cunningham who significantly recreated many versions in the edition-- passing them off as traditional. Cromek and Cunningham's headnotes follow, which were critical of Scott's composite[8]:

"This curious legend is one among a considerable number which were copied from the recital of a peasant woman of Galloway, upwards of ninety years of age. They were all evidently productions of a very remote date, and, whatever might be their poetical beauties, were so involved in obscurity as to render any attempt at illustration useless. This tale was preserved as a specimen of the rest, being not only the clearest in point of style, but possessing a character of originality which cannot fail to interest the reader. Though not strictly what may be called a fairy tale, it is narrated in a similar way. The transitions are abrupt, yet artfully managed, so as to omit no circumstance of the story which the imagination of the reader may not naturally supply. The singular character of Billie Blin' (the Scotch Brownie, and the lubbar fiend of Milton) gives the whole an air of the marvellous, independently of the mystic chair, on which the principal catastrophe of the story turns.

In the third volume of Mr. Scott's Border Minstrelsy there is a ballad called " Cospatrick," founded on three more imperfect readings of this ancient fragment, interspersed with some patches of modern imitation. The entire piece is not so long as the present copy, and the supplementary part but ill accords with the rude simplicity of the original. It is like the introduction of modern masonry to supply the dilapidations of a Gothic ruin; the style of architecture is uniform, but the freshness and polish of the materials destroy the effect of the ancient structure, and it can no longer be contemplated as a genuine relique of past ages.

There are many incongruities in Mr. Scott's copy, which it is strange that so able an antiquary could have let pass. For example:—

"When bells were rung, and mass was said,
And a' men unto bed were gane."

In the Romish service we never heard of mass being said in the evening, but vespers, as in the original here given. Mr. Scott also omits that interesting personage the "Billie Blin," and awkwardly supplies the loss by making the bed, blanket, and sheets speak, which is an outrage on the consistency even of a fairy tale."

Child commented: "Though overlaid with verses of Cunningham's making (of which forty or fifty may be excided in one mass) and though retouched almost everywhere, both the ground work of the story and some genuine lines remain unimpaired. The omission of most of the passage referred to, and the restoration of the stanza form, will give us, perhaps, a thing of shreds and patches, but still a ballad as near to genuine as some in Percy's Reliques or even Scott's Minstrelsy."

Then in his End-notes Child added: "There is small risk in pronouncing 24. 25, 42, 43, 80, 81 spurious, and Cunningham surpasses his usual mawkishness in 83."

Four years later when "Illustrations of Northern Antiquities" was published, Robert Jamieson and Sir Walter Scott responded to Cromek's and Cunningham's comments in the notes to Jamieson's translation of "Ingefred and Gudrune," an analogue of Gil Brenton[9]:

"In a publication (of no credit) which has just reached us, entitled "Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song," by R. H. Cromek, (which is executed in such a manner as, were it of sufficient importance, to bring the authenticity of all popular poetry in question,) there is a very poor and mutilated copy of "Gil Brenton," in a note upon which is the following passage: "There are many incongruities in Mr Scott's copy, which it is strange that so able an antiquary could have let pass. For example, we never hear of mass being said in the evening, but vespers, as in the original here given. Mr Scott also omits that interesting personage, the "Billie Blin," and awkwardly supplies the loss by making the bed, blankets, and sheets, speak, which is an outrage on the consistency even of a fairy tale."

Now, in Mr Scott's copies, and the present writer's, where the hero is called Gil Brenton, the blankets and sheets are just as in the Minstrelsy; there is no word of "Billie Blin," and we doubt if ever any reciter of the ballad mentioned him; and as to vespers, neither the thing itself, nor the name, is known among the peasantry of Scotland; whereas the mass, having been the war-cry of the Reformers, and afterwards of the Covenanters, during the struggles between presbytery and episcopacy, is still familiar to every one."

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Buchan published a version "Lord Dingwall," in his Ballads of the North of Scotland, I, 204, 1828. He commented[10]:

"This ballad has all the insignia of antiquity stamped upon it; and records one of those romantic fashions said to exist in the Highlands of Scotland some hundred years ago. I am not inclined to think that the hero of the piece was any of the Lords Dingwall, although its name would imply as much; but rather a Highland chieftain, or Laird of Dingwall, a royal borough in Ross-shire; if such be the real name of the ballad; of which I am dubious, for Sir Richard Preston was created Lord Dingwall by King James, in 1607, by patent, to the heirs of his body. His only daughter and heir, Lady Elizabeth, married James, the great Duke of Ormond. His grandson, James, second and last Duke, claimed, in 1710, the Scotch honour of Dingwall; for which he was allowed to vote at the election of the sixteen peers the same year. This title was forfeited by his attainder, in 1715. From this we may see, that none of the Lords of Dingwall resided in the Highlands, but most part in England, which confirms my opinion.

In an imperfect copy of a ballad somewhat similar in incident to this one, the hero of the piece is called “Lord Bothwell;” but which of the two is the true title, I am not determined to say."

Buchan's improved refrains have been wed with other texts including Cospatrick in later editions of Scottish ballads[11]. Christie later shortened shortened and arranged Buchan's text for this melody.

About the next year (1829-30) the noted Scottish historian and writer John Hill Burton (b.1809) from Aberdeen and later Edinburgh wrote out a fragment from recitation (no informant was named) that became part of George Ritchie Kinloch MSS.

Several years later in 1833 Andrew Picken included a fragment of text (my I version) in "Traditionary Stories of Old Familes and Legendary Illustrations of Family Histry, 1833." On page 62 in the section, "The Three Maids of Loudon" the following stanzas appear. This excerpt includes part of the text:

The voices of the maidens rose sweet and soft in their arched chamber, but they had not chanted more than a stanza or two of their simple song, running thus,

“Seven pretty sisters dwelt in a bower,
   With a hey-down, and a ho-down;
And they twined the silk, and they work'd the flower,
Sing a hey-down, and a ho-down.

“And they began for seven years' wark,
      With a hey-down, and a ho-down,
All for to make their dear loves a sark,
    With a hey-down, and a ho-down.

“O three long years were pass'd and gone,
      With a hey-down, and a ho-down,
And they had not finish’d a sleeve but one
    With a hey-down, and a ho-down.

O we’ll to the woods, and we’ll pull a rose,
    With a hey-down, and a ho-down;
And up they sprang all at this propose,
   With a hey-down, and a ho-down;”

when the loud sound of a horn without startled their lady, and hushed the whole into instant silence. As they listened and looked in each other's faces, the note rang through the distant woods, and reveberated away from the castle walls with a thousand prolonged echoes.

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The Scottish ballad Gil Brenton, Child No. 5, disappeared from tradition by the late 1800s. Because of its length, it has not been revived and remains a "dead" ballad. The important texts not given by Child are: 1) "Lord Bengwill's Adventure" from Mary Macqueen (Mrs. William Storie) of Lochwinnoch; Crawfurd's MS published by Lyle, 1975; and 2) "Aye the Birks a-bowing, or, Lord Dingwall," an arrangement of Buchan's text by W. Christie, Traditional Ballad Airs, Volume 2, 1881.

Mortherwell's b version by Mary Macqueen (Crawfurd's MS) should be given a separate letter designation but I've used Child's letter designations for this ballad. Child's texts appear on the first page after this headnotes. The same texts with additional notes appear attached to this page and are listed in CONTENTS, below. Once again Child's excellent headnotes are filled with foreign analogues (see footnote 9 for a Danish analogue by Robert Jamieson) which may or may not be directly related to these Scottish ballads.

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Richie