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40 Indiana, University Publications, Folklore Series
5
ERLINTON
(Child, No. 8)
The happy ending of this variant indicates its derivation from "Erlinton" rather than from "Earl Brand," although there are certain resemblances to the latter. No mention is made of the imprisonment of the heroine or of the strict watch kept over her, but the meeting between the lovers and her father and the twenty well-armed men would seem to indicate that the latter group had been searching for the pair.
For American texts, see Barry, Eckstorm, and Smyth, p. 377 (three variants, a fragment, and one melody); Davis, p. 92 (one variant given in an appendix to "Earl Brand"); Scarborough, Song Catcher, p. 201; JFSS, I, 108-9; Henry, Folk-Songs from the Southern Highlands, p. 185; Creighton, Songs and Ballads from Nova Scotia, p. 25.
"The Soldier's Wooing." Contributed by Mrs. Thomas M. Bryant, of Evansville, Indiana. Vanderburg County. November 22, 1935.
1. I'll tell you of a soldier that lately came from sea,
As bold a young fellow as ever you did see. His fortune was so great it scarcely could be told; The lady loved the soldier because he was so bold.
2. He took her to church; on returning home again,
They met her old father and twenty well-armed men; Up steps the old man and unto her did say:
"Is this you, my daughter, and is this your wedding day?"
3. Up steps the soldier as bold as he could be,
Saying, "This is your daughter, and this her wedding day." He drew his sword and pistol, which caused them to rattle; The lady held the horses while the soldier fought the battle.
4. The first one he came to he stuck him through the mane ;x
The next one he came to he served him the same. "Let's run!" says the rest; "I fear that we'll be slain; _______To fight this bold soldier I find it all in vain."
1 Probably a corruption of wame, a Scottish and Northern England form of wonibt here meaning betty. NED, X, 60: "He's in bed this hour past with a spoonful of peppermint in his little warne"—Stevenson, St. Ives, xxxvi (1898), 810. |
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