Ancient Poems [87]
makes a particular examination of the place of her intended destruction, and raises an objection to some nettles which are growing on the banks of the stream; these she requires to be removed, in the following poetical stanza:-
'Go fetch the sickle, to crop the nettle, That grows so near the brim; For fear it should tangle my golden locks, Or freckle my milk-white skin.'
A request so elegantly made is gallantly complied with by the treacherous knight, who, while engaged in 'cropping' the nettles, is pushed into the stream.
(5) A TINKER is still so called in the north of England.
(6) This poor minstrel was born at the village of Rylstone, in Craven, the scene of Wordsworth's WHITE DOE OF RYLSTONE. King was always called 'the Skipton Minstrel;' and he merited that name, for he was not a mere player of jigs and country dances, but a singer of heroic ballads, carrying his hearers back to the days of chivalry and royal adventure, when the King of England called up Cheshire and Lancashire to fight the King of France, and monarchs sought the greenwood tree, and hob-a-nobbed with tinkers, knighting these Johns of the Dale as a matter of poetical justice and high sovereign prerogative. Francis King was a character. His physiognomy was striking and peculiar; and, although there was nothing of the rogue in its expression, for an honester fellow never breathed, he might have sat for Wordsworth's 'Peter Bell.' He combined in a rare degree the qualities of the mime and the minstrel, and his old jokes, and older ballads and songs, always ensured him a hearty welcome. He was lame, in consequence of one leg being shorter than the other, and his limping gait used to give occasion to the remark that 'few Kings had had more ups and downs in the world.' He met his death by drowning on the night of December 13, 1844. He had been at a 'merry-making' at Gargrave, in Craven, and it is supposed that, owing to the darkness of the night, he mistook the road, and walked into the river. As a musician his talents were creditable; and his name will long survive in the village records. The minstrel's grave is in the quiet churchyard of Gargrave. Further particulars of Francis King may be seen in Dixon's STORIES OF THE CRAVEN DALES, published by Tasker and Son, of Skipton.
(7) This is the ancient way of spelling the name of Reading. In Percy's version of BARBARA ALLEN, that ballad commences 'In Scarlet town,' which, in the common stall copies, is rendered 'In Redding town.' The former is apparently a pun upon the old orthography - REDding.
(8) The sister of Roger.
(9) This gentleman was Mr. Thomas Petty.
(10) We here, and in a subsequent verse, find 'daughter' made to rhyme with 'after;' but we must not therefore conclude that the rhyme is of cockney origin. In many parts of England, the word 'daughter' is pronounced 'dafter' by the peasantry, who, upon the same principle, pronounce 'slaughter' as if it were spelt 'slafter.'
(11) Added to complete the sense.
(12) That is, 'said he, the wild boar.'
(13) Scott has strangely misunderstood this line, which he interprets -
'Many people did she KILL.'
'Fell' is to knock down, and the meaning is that she could 'well' knock down, or 'fell' people.
(14) Went.
(15) The meaning appears to be that no 'wiseman' or wizard, no matter from whence his magic, was derived, durst face her. Craven has always been famed for its wizards, or wisemen, and several of such impostors may be found there at the present day.
(16) Scott's MS. reads Ralph, but Raphe is the ancient form.
(17) Scott reads 'brim as beare,' which he interprets 'fierce as a bear.' Whitaker's rendering is correct. Beare is a small hamlet on the Bay of Morecambe, no great distance, as the crow files, from the LOCALE of the poem. There is also a Bear-park in the county of Durham, of which place Bryan might be an inhabitant. UTRUM HORUM, &c.
(18) That is, they were good soldiers when the MUSTERS were - when the regiments were called up.
'Go fetch the sickle, to crop the nettle, That grows so near the brim; For fear it should tangle my golden locks, Or freckle my milk-white skin.'
A request so elegantly made is gallantly complied with by the treacherous knight, who, while engaged in 'cropping' the nettles, is pushed into the stream.
(5) A TINKER is still so called in the north of England.
(6) This poor minstrel was born at the village of Rylstone, in Craven, the scene of Wordsworth's WHITE DOE OF RYLSTONE. King was always called 'the Skipton Minstrel;' and he merited that name, for he was not a mere player of jigs and country dances, but a singer of heroic ballads, carrying his hearers back to the days of chivalry and royal adventure, when the King of England called up Cheshire and Lancashire to fight the King of France, and monarchs sought the greenwood tree, and hob-a-nobbed with tinkers, knighting these Johns of the Dale as a matter of poetical justice and high sovereign prerogative. Francis King was a character. His physiognomy was striking and peculiar; and, although there was nothing of the rogue in its expression, for an honester fellow never breathed, he might have sat for Wordsworth's 'Peter Bell.' He combined in a rare degree the qualities of the mime and the minstrel, and his old jokes, and older ballads and songs, always ensured him a hearty welcome. He was lame, in consequence of one leg being shorter than the other, and his limping gait used to give occasion to the remark that 'few Kings had had more ups and downs in the world.' He met his death by drowning on the night of December 13, 1844. He had been at a 'merry-making' at Gargrave, in Craven, and it is supposed that, owing to the darkness of the night, he mistook the road, and walked into the river. As a musician his talents were creditable; and his name will long survive in the village records. The minstrel's grave is in the quiet churchyard of Gargrave. Further particulars of Francis King may be seen in Dixon's STORIES OF THE CRAVEN DALES, published by Tasker and Son, of Skipton.
(7) This is the ancient way of spelling the name of Reading. In Percy's version of BARBARA ALLEN, that ballad commences 'In Scarlet town,' which, in the common stall copies, is rendered 'In Redding town.' The former is apparently a pun upon the old orthography - REDding.
(8) The sister of Roger.
(9) This gentleman was Mr. Thomas Petty.
(10) We here, and in a subsequent verse, find 'daughter' made to rhyme with 'after;' but we must not therefore conclude that the rhyme is of cockney origin. In many parts of England, the word 'daughter' is pronounced 'dafter' by the peasantry, who, upon the same principle, pronounce 'slaughter' as if it were spelt 'slafter.'
(11) Added to complete the sense.
(12) That is, 'said he, the wild boar.'
(13) Scott has strangely misunderstood this line, which he interprets -
'Many people did she KILL.'
'Fell' is to knock down, and the meaning is that she could 'well' knock down, or 'fell' people.
(14) Went.
(15) The meaning appears to be that no 'wiseman' or wizard, no matter from whence his magic, was derived, durst face her. Craven has always been famed for its wizards, or wisemen, and several of such impostors may be found there at the present day.
(16) Scott's MS. reads Ralph, but Raphe is the ancient form.
(17) Scott reads 'brim as beare,' which he interprets 'fierce as a bear.' Whitaker's rendering is correct. Beare is a small hamlet on the Bay of Morecambe, no great distance, as the crow files, from the LOCALE of the poem. There is also a Bear-park in the county of Durham, of which place Bryan might be an inhabitant. UTRUM HORUM, &c.
(18) That is, they were good soldiers when the MUSTERS were - when the regiments were called up.