Hi,

It appears that only three lines of the Italian "Lord Randall" ballad were part the of broadside in Verona in 1629 (it was a collection of lines from various songs). As sung by a blind Florentine, Camillo, called "the Bianchino":

'Dov' andastu iersera,["Where did you go last night]
Figliuol mio ricco, savio e gentile? [My son, rich, wise and kind?]
Dov' andastu iersera'?"[Where did you go last night?"]

It's prefaced by these four lines which reveal some of the story:

"lo vo' finire con questa d'un amante [I want to end this with a lover]
Tradito dall' amata.[Betrayed by the beloved.]
Oh che l'è si garbata [Oh that is it is the kind]
A cantarla in ischiera: [To be sung altogether:]

This is a version called L'Avvelenato (The Poisoned) of which another fragment was collected in 1656 and longer complete versions in the 1860s. One text of L'Avvelenato, called, "incatenatura of the Cieco Fiorentino," ("the song of the blind Florentine" after Camillo's fragment, above) was given in "Renaissance in Italy, Volume 4" by John Addington Symonds, 1888. It was collected in Como about 1867 by Dr. G. B. Bolza. A translation follows the Italian text:

The identity between the two is rendered still more striking by an analysis of the several Lombard versions. In that of Como, for example, the young man makes his will; and this is the last verse:

Cossa lasse alla vostra dama,
Figliuol mio caro, fiorito e gentil,
Cossa lasse alla vostra dama?
La fórca da impiccarla,
Signora mama, mio cor sta mal!
La fórca da impiccarla:
Ohimè, eh' io moro, ohimè!

[17. "What will you leave your sweetheart,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What will you leave your sweetheart?"
"The gallows-tree to hang her;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
The gallows-tree to hang her;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"]

The same version furnishes the episode of the poisoned hounds:

Coss' avi fa dell' altra mezza,
Figliuol mio caro, fiorito e gentil?
Cossa avi fa dell' altra mezza?
L' hó dada alla cagnòla:
Signóra mama, mio core sta mal!
L' hó dada alla cagnòla:
Ohimè, eh' io moro, ohimè!
Cossa avi fa della cagnòla,
Figliuol mio caro, fiorito e gentil?
Cossa avi fa della cagnòla?
L' è morta drè la strada;
Signora mama, mio core sta mal!
L' e morta dré la strada:
Ohimè, eh' io moro, ohimè!

[4. "What did you with the leavings,
Dear son so fair and noble?
What did you with the leavings?"
"I gave them to my good hound;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
I gave them to my good hound;
O woe is me! O woe is me! I die!"

5. "Where have you left your good hound,
Dear son so fair and noble?
Where have you left your good hound?"
"It fell dead in the roadway;
O Lady Mother, sick at heart am I!
It fell dead in the roadway;
0 woe is me! 0 woe is me! I die!"]
* * * *

Richie