HYND HORN.
Those metrical romances, which in the chivalrous ages, constituted the most refined pastime of a rude nobility, are known in many cases to have been adapted for the entertainment of humbler hearers, by abridgment in the form of ballads. Such was the case with the ancient _gest_ of _King Horn_. Preserved in several MSS., both French and English, in something of its original proportions, an epitome of it has also descended to us through the mouths of the people.
An imperfect copy of the following piece was inserted by Cromek in his _Select Scottish Songs_, (London, 1810, vol. ii. p. 204-210.) Better editions have since been furnished by Kinloch, _Ancient Scottish Ballads_, p. 138; Motherwell, _Minstrelsy_, p. 95; and Buchan, _Ballads of the North of Scotland_, ii. 268. Of these, we reprint the last two.
All the poems relating to Horn, in French and English, including the Scottish ballads above mentioned, are collected by Michel in a beautiful volume of the Bannatyne Club, _Horn et Rimenhild_, Paris, 1845.
From Motherwell's _Minstrelsy_, p. 35.
Near Edinburgh was a young child born, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And his name it was called Young Hynd Horn, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
Seven lang years he served the King, 5 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And it's a' for the sake of his dochter Jean, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
The King an angry man was he, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; 10 He sent young Hynd Horn to the sea, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"O I never saw my love before, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; Till I saw her thro' an augre bore, 15 _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"And she gave to me a gay gold ring, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; With three shining diamonds set therein, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_. 20
"And I gave to her a silver wand, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; With three singing laverocks set thereon, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"What if those diamonds lose their hue, 25 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; Just when my love begins for to rew, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_?"
"For when your ring turns pale and wan, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; 30 Then I'm in love with another man, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_."
He's left the land, and he's gone to the sea, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And he's stayed there seven years and a day, 35 _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
Seven lang years he has been on the sea, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And Hynd Horn has looked how his ring may be, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_. 40
But when he looked this ring upon, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; The shining diamonds were both pale and wan, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
O the ring it was both black and blue, 45 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And she's either dead, or she's married, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
He's left the seas, and he's come to the land, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; 50 And the first he met was an auld beggar man, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"What news, what news, my silly auld man?
_With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; For it's seven years since I have seen land, 55 _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"What news, what news, thou auld beggar man?
_With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; What news, what news, by sea or land?
_And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_." 60
"No news at all," said the auld beggar man, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; "But there is a wedding in the King's hall, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"There is a King's dochter in the West, 65 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And she has been married thir nine nights past, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"Into the bride-bed she winna gang, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; 70 Till she hears tell of her ain Hynd Horn, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_."
"Wilt thou give to me thy begging coat?
_With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And I'll give to thee my scarlet cloak, 75 _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"Wilt thou give to me thy begging staff?
_With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And I'll give to thee my good gray steed, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_." 80
The auld beggar man cast off his coat, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And he's ta'en up the scarlet cloak, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
The auld beggar man threw down his staff, 85 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And he has mounted the good gray steed, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
The auld beggar man was bound for the mill, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; 90 But young Hynd Horn for the King's hall, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
The auld beggar man was bound for to ride, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; But young Hynd Horn was bound for the bride, 95 _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
When he came to the King's gate, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; He asked a drink for young Hynd Horn's sake, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_. 100
These news unto the bonnie bride came, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; That at the yett there stands an auld man, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"There stands an auld man at the King's gate, 105 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; He asketh a drink for young Hynd Horn's sake, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"I'll go through nine fires so hot, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; 110 But I'll give him a drink for young Hynd Horn's sake, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_."
She went to the gate where the auld man did stand, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And she gave him a drink out of her own hand, 115 _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
She gave him a cup out of her own hand, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; He drunk out the drink, and dropt in the ring, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_. 120
"Got thou it by sea, or got thou it by land?
_With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; Or got thou it off a dead man's hand?
_And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_."
"I got it not by sea, but I got it by land, 125 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; For I got it out of thine own hand, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_."
"I'll cast off my gowns of brown, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; 130 And I'll follow thee from town to town, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
"I'll cast off my gowns of red, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; And along with thee I'll beg my bread, 135 _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_."
"Thou need not cast off thy gowns of brown, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; For I can make thee lady of many a town, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_. 140
"Thou need not cast off thy gowns of red, _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; For I can maintain thee with both wine and bread, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_."
The bridegroom thought he had the bonnie bride wed, 145 _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; But young Hynd Horn took the bride to the bed, _And the birk and the brume blooms bonnie_.
HYND HORN.