Seminar #3 English Folk Ballads

Read and analyze the following ballads according to the scheme:

1. The subject of the ballad;

2. The story;

3. Method of narration;

4. Stylistic devices;

5. Figures of speech;

6. Characteristic folklore elements;

7. Type of refrain.

1. The banks of allan water

On the banks of Allan water,

When the sweet spring time did fall.

Was the millers lovely daughter,

Fairest of them all.

For his bride a soldier sought her,

And a winning tongue had he,

On the banks of Allan water

None so gay as she.

On the banks of Allan water,

When brown autumn spread his store,

There I saw the miller s daughter,

But she smiled no more.

For the summer grief had brought her

And the soldier, false was he;

On the banks of Allan water,

None so sad as she.

On the banks of Allan water,

When the winter snow fell fast,

Still was seen the miller's daughter;

Chilling blew the blast.

But the miller s lovely daughter,

Both from cold and care was free,

On the banks of Allan water,

There a corpse lay she.

2. The two magicians

The lady stands in her bower (boudoir) door

As straight as willow wand;

The blacksmith stood a little foreby (aside)

Wi' hammer in his hand.

"Weel may ye dress ye, lady fair,

Into your robes о 'red;

Before the morn at this same time

I’ll gain your maidenhead".

"Awa, awa, ye coal-black smith,

Would ye do me the wrang?

To think to gain my maidenhead

That 1 hae (have) kept sae lang (so long)?"

Then she has hadden (held) up her hand

And she sware by mold (earth):

"I wu'dna be a blacksmith's wife

For the full о 'a chest о 'gold.

I 'd rather I were dead and gone

And my body laid in grave,

Ere a rusty stock о 'coal-black smith

My maidenhead should have."

But he has hadden up his hand

And he sware by the mass:

"I’ll cause ye be my light leman (lover)

For the hauf o' that and less."

"0 bide, lady, bide (wait);

And aye (always) he bade her bide;

The rusty smith your leman shall be

For a 'your muckle pride ".

Then she became a turtle-dove

To fly up in the air,

And he became another dove

And they flew pair in pair.

"0 bide, lady, bide, etc.

She turned herself into an eel

To swim into yon burn (brook)

And he became a speckled trout

To gie the eel a turn.

"0 bide, lady, bide, etc.

Then she became a duck, a duck,

To puddle in a peel (pond),

And he became a rose-kaim’d (red-combed) drake

To gie the duck a dreel (doing-over).

"0 bide, lady, bide, etc.

She turned herself into a hare

To run upon yon hill,

And he became a gude (good) greyhound

And boldly he did fill (perform, fulfill).

"0 bide, lady, bide, etc.

Then she became a gay grey mare

And stood in yonder slack (hollow),

And he became a gilt saddle

And sat upon her back.

Was she wae (wonderful), he held her sae (so),

And still he bade her bide:

The rusty smith her leman was

For a 'her muckle pride.

Then she became a het girdle (hot griddle)

And he became a cake,

And a' the ways she turned herself

The blacksmith was her make.

Was she wae, etc

She turned herself into a ship

To sail out ower the flood,

He ca 'd (drove) a nail infill(into) her tail (stern)

And syne (then) the ship she stood.

Was she wae, etc.

Then she became a silken plaid

And stretched upon a bed,

And he became a green covering

And gained her maidehead.

Was she wae, etc

.