verse in the original is added a burden, having a kind of meaning of its own, but not applicable, at least not uniformly applicable, to the sense of the stanza to which it is subjoined: this is very common both in Danish and Scottish song. THE ELFIN GRAY. TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH KÆMPE VISER, p. 143, AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1591. Der ligger en vold i Vester Haf, Og agter der om vinteren at ligge. (DE VILDE DIUR OG DIURENE UDI SKOFVEN.) 1. There liggs a wold in Wester Haf, There a husbande means to bigg And thither he carries baith hawk and hound, There meaning the winter to ligg. (The wild deer and daes i the shaw out.) 2. He taks wi' him baith hound and cock, The wild deer in the shaws that are (The wild deer, &c.) 3. He's hew'd the beech, and he's fell'd the aik, Sae has he the poplar gray; And grim in mood was the grewsome elf, 4. He hew'd him kipples, he hew'd him bawks, Wi' nickle moil and haste, Syne speer'd the Elfi' the knock that bade, 5. Syne up anl spak the weiest Elf, It's here is come a Christian man ; 6. It's up syne started the firsten Elf, 'It's we'll awa' to the husbande's house, 7. 'Here hews he down baith skugg and shaw 8. The Elfen a' i' the knock that were, They nighed near the husband's house, 9. The hound he yowls i' the yard, 10. The Elfen were five score and seven, And they the husbande's guests maun be, 11. The husbande, out o' Villenshaw, At his winnock the Elves can see : 1. In every nook a cross he coost, 13. And some flew cast, and some flew west, And some to the norwart flew ; And some they flew to the deep dale down, 14. It was then the weiest Elf, In at the door braids he; Agast was the husbande, for that Elf 15. The huswife she was a canny wife, 16. Hear thou, Gudeman o' Villenshaw, Wha bade thee bigg within our bounds, 17. But, an' thou in our bounds will bigg, 18. Up spak the luckless husbande then, 19. Till the Elf he answer'd as he couth: i 20. And tak whate'er, o' gude or gear, Is mine, awa wi' thee.' Then I'll thy Eline tak and thee, And hide thy goud and white monie 21. The husbande and his househald a' 'Far better that she be now forfairn, 22. Up, will of rede, the husbande stood, 23. Then blyth grew he, and sprang about: He took her in his arm: The rud it left her comely cheek; 24. A waefu' woman then she was ane, 25. My fay I plight to the fairest wight 6. He minted ance-he minted twice, 27. When he the thirden time can mint 28. This fell under a linden green, That again his shape he found; 29. dearest Eline, hear thou this, 30. Whan I was but a little wee bairn, My stepmither sent me awa' fra her; 31. To thy husbande I a gift will gie, 32. Thou nobil knyght, we thank now God 33. Sin' I to thee nae maik can be 34. I thank thee, Eline, thou wise woman; 35. The husbande biggit now on his öe, 36. Now Eline, the husbande's huswife, has Cour'd a' her grief and harms; She's mither to a noble queen GLOSSARY. Hus Stanza 1. old, a wood; woody fastness. bande, from the Dan. hos, with, and bonde, a villain, or bondsman, who was a cultivator of the ground, and could not quit the estate to which he was attached without the permission of his lord. This is the sense of the word in the old Scottish records. In the Scottish Burghe Laws,' translated from the Reg. Majest. (Auchinleck MS. in the Adv. Lab.) it is used indiscriminately with the Dan. and Swed. bonde. Bigg, build. Ligg, lie. Daes, does. 2. Shaw, wood. Sairly, sorely. 3. Aik, oak. Grewsome, terrible. Bald, bold. 4. Kipples (couples), beams joined at the top, for supporting a roof, in building, Bawks, balks; crossbeams. Moil, laborious industry. Speer'd, asked. Knuck, hillock. 5. Veiest, smallest. Crean'd, shrunk, diminished; from the Gaelic, crian, very small. Immert, emmet; ant. Christian, used in the Danish ballads, &c. in contradistinction to demoniac, as it is in England in contradistinction to brute; in which sense, a person of the lower class in England would call a few or a Turk a Christian. Fley, frighten. 6. Glowr'd, stared. Hald, hold. 7. Skugg, shade. Skaith, harm. 8. Nighed, approached. 9. Youls, howls. Toots. In the Dan. tude is applied both to the howling of a dog, and the sound of a horn. Scraighs, screams. 10. Laidly, loathly; disgustingly ugly. fierce. 11. Vinnock, window. Mint, aim at. 12. Coost, cast. Grim, Maist, l'ad, would. Weel-waled, Chalmer, chamber. most. Ava, of all. 13. Norwart, northward. Trow, believe. 14. Braids, strides quickly forward. 15. Canny, adroit. well-chosen. 17. An, if Mony, many. Bide, abide. Lemman, mistress. 18. Nae-gate, nowise. 19. Couth, could, knew how to. Lat be, let alone. Gude, goods; property. 20. Aneath, beneath. Dwalling-stead, dwelling. place. 21. Sary, sorrowful. Rede, counsel; consultation. Forfairn, forlorn; lost; gone. Tyne (verb neut.), be lost; perish. 22. Will of rede, bewildered in thought; in the Danish original 'vildraadage'; Lat. inops consilii'; Gr. arropor. This expression is left among the desiderata in the Glossary to Ritson's Romances, and has never been explained. It is obsolete in the Danish as well as in English, Fare, go. 23. Rud, red of the cheek. Clem'd, in the Danish klemt (which in the north of England is still in use, as the word starved is with us); brought to a dying state. It is used by our cld comedians. Harm, grief; as in the original, and in the old Teutonic, English, and Scottish poetry. 24. Waefu', woeful, Moody, strongly and wilfully passionate. Rew, take ruth; pity. Unseely, unhappy; unblest. Weird, fate. Fa (Isl., Dan., and Swed.), take; get; acquire; procure; have for my lot. This Gothic verb answers, in its direct and secondary significations, exactly to the Latin capio; and Allan Ramsay was right in his definition of it. It is quite a different word from fa', an abbreviation of 'fall, or befall; and is the principal root in FANGEN, to fang, take, or lay hold of. 25. Fay, faith. Mold, mould; earth. Mat, mote; might. Maun, must. Mell, mix. El, an Elf. This term, in the Welsh, signifies what has in itself the power of motion; a moving principle; an intelligence; a spirit; an angel. In the Hebrew it bears the same import. 26. Minted, attempted; meant; showed a mind, or intention to. The original is 'Hand mindte hende forst-og anden gang;- End Blef hand den lediste deif-vel Mand kunde med öyen see. Der hand vilde minde den tredie gang,' &c. Syth, tide, time. Kyth, appear. 28. Stound, hour; time; moment, 29. Merry (old Teut. mere), famous; renowned; answering, in its etymological meaning, exactly to the Latin mactus. Hence merry-men, as the address of a chief to his followers; meaning, not men of mirth, but of renown. The term is found in its original sense in the Gael. mara, and the Welsh mawr, great; and in the oldest Teut. Romances, mar, mer, and mere, have sometimes the same signification. 31. Mends, amends; recompense. 33. Maik, match; peer; equal. 1 Under öe.-The original expression has been preserved here and elsewhere, because no other could be found to supply its place. There is just as much meaning in it in the translation as in the original; but it is a standard Danish ballad phrase; and as such, it is hoped, will be allowed to pass. 2 Fair.-The Dan. and Swed, ven, væn, or venne, and the Gaël. bân, in the oblique cases bhân (vân), is the origin of the Scottish bonny, which has so much puzzled all the etymologists. 2. Thegither they lived for seven lang year, (And 0, &c.) And they seven bairns hae gotten in fere. (I' the greenwood, &c.) 3. Sae Death's come there intill that stead, And that winsome lily flower is dead. 4. That swain he has ridden him up under öe, And syne he has married anither may. 5. He's married a may, and he's fessen her hame; But she was a grim and a laidly dame. 6. When into the castell court drave she, The seven bairns stood wi' the tear in their ec. 7. The bairns they stood wi' dule and dout ;She up wi' her foot, and she kick'd them out. 8. Nor ale nor mead to the bairnies she gave: 9. She took frae them the bowster blae, 12. That heard the wife under the eard that lay: 13. That wife can stand up at our Lord's knee, And May I gang and my bairnies see?' 14. She prigged sae sair, and she prigged sae lang, That he at the last ga'e her leave to gang. 15. And thou sall come back when the cock does craw, For thou nae langer sall bide awa.' 16. Wi' her banes sae stark a bowt she gae; She's riven baith wa' and marble gray 1. 17. Whan near to the dwalling she can gang, The dogs they wow'd till the lift it rang. 18. When she came till the castell yett, Her eldest dochter stood thereat. 19. Why stand ye here, dear dochter mine? How are sma' brithers and sisters thine?- 20. For sooth ye're a woman baith fair and fine; But ye are nae dear mither of mine.' 21. Och how should I be fine or fair? My cheek it is pale, and the ground's my lair. — 22. My mither was white, wi' cheek sae red; But thou art wan, and liker ane dead.'- 23. Och how should I be white and red, Sae lang as I've been cauld and dead?'- 26. The thirden she doodl'd upon her knee, And the fourthen she dichted sae canniiie. 27. She's ta'en the fifthen upon her lap, 28. Till her eldest dochter syne said she, 30. I left you routh o' ale and bread: 33. Gin aft I come back to visit thee, Wae, dowy, and weary thy luck shall be." 34. Up spak little Kirstin in bed that lay: To thy bairnies I'll do the best I may.' 35. Aye when they heard the dog nirr and bell, Sae ga'e they the bairnies bread and ale. 24. When she cam till the chalmer in, Down the bairns' cheeks the tears did rin. 25. Buskut, dressed. Kem'd, combed. Tither, the other. 25. She buskit the tane, and she brush'd it there She kem'd and plaited the tither's hair. Nerd, want. 31. Ahind, behind. 1 33. Dowy, sorrowful. 35. Virr, snarl. Braw, brave; fine. 3. Sain'd, blessed; literally, signed with the sign of the cross. Before the introduction of Christianity, Runes were used in saning, as a spell against the power of enchantment and evil genii, Ghaist, ghost. Bell, bark. NOTE L. -the moody Elfin King.-P. 243. In a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstitions, published in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the most valuable part of which was supplied by my learned and indefatigable friend, Dr. John Leyden, most of the circumstances are collected which can throw light upon the popular belief which even yet prevails respecting them in Scotland. Dr. Grahame, author of an entertaining work upon the Scenery of the Perthshire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded, with great accuracy, the peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on this topic, in the vicinity of Loch Katrine. The learned author is inclined to deduce the whole mythology from the Druidical system,-an opinion to which there are many objections. The Daoine Shi, or Men of Peace of the Highlanders, though not absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish, repining race of beings, who, possessing themselves but a scanty portion of happiness, are supposed to envy mankind their more complete and substantial enjoyments. They are supposed to enjoy in their subterraneous recesses a sort of shadowy happiness,-a tinsel grandeur; which, however, they would willingly exchange for the more solid joys of mortality. 'They are believed to inhabit certain round grassy eminences, where they celebrate their nocturnal festivities by the light of the moon. About a mile beyond the source of the Forth above Lochcon, there is a place called Coirshi'an, or the Cove of the Men of Peace, which is still supposed to be a favourite place of their residence. In the neighbourhood are to be seen many round conical eminences; particularly one, near the head of the lake, by the skirts of which many are still afraid to pass after sunset. It is believed, that if, on Hallow-eve, any person, alone, goes round one of these hills nine times, towards the left hand (sinistrorsum) a door shall open, by which he will be admitted into their subterraneous abodes. Many, it is said, of mortal race, have been entertained in their secret recesses. There they have been received into the most splendid apartments, and regaled with the most sumptuous banquets, and delicious wines. Their females surpass the daughters of men in beauty. The seemingly happy inhabitants pass their time in festivity, and in dancing to notes of the softest music. But unhappy is the mortal who joins in their joys, or ventures to partake of their dainties. By this indulgence, he forfeits for ever the society of men, and is bound down irrevocably to the condition of Shi'ich, or Man of Peace. A woman, as is reported in the Highland tradition, was conveyed, in days of yore, into the secret recesses of the Men of Peace. There she was recognized by one who had formerly been an ordinary mortal, but who ་ had, by some fatality, become associated with the Shi'ichs. This acquaintance, still retaining some portion of human benevolence, warned her of her danger, and counselled her, as she valued her liberty, to abstain from eating and drinking with them for a certain space of time. She complied with the counsel of her friend; and when the period assigned was elapsed, she found herself again upon earth, restored to the society of mortals. It is added, that when she examined the viands which had been presented to her, and which had appeared so tempting to the eye, they were found, now that the enchantment was removed, to consist only of the refuse of the earth.'-Pp. 107-111. NOTE LI. Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, It has been already observed, that fairies, if not positively malevolent, are capricious, and easily offended. They are, like other proprietors of forests, peculiarly jealous of their rights of vert and venison, as appears from the cause of offence taken, in the original Danish ballad. This jealousy was also an attribute of the northern Duergar, or dwarfs; to many of whose distinctions the fairies seem to have succeeded, if, indeed, they are not the same class of beings. In the huge metrical record of German Chivalry, entitled the Helden-Buch, Sir Hildebrand, and the other heroes of whom it treats, are engaged in one of their most desperate adventures, from a rash violation of the rose-garden of an Elfin, or Dwarf King. There are yet traces of a belief in this worst and most malicious order of Fairies, among the Border wilds. Dr. Leyden has introduced such a dwarf into his ballad entitled the Cout of Keeldar, and has not forgot his characteristic detestation of the chase. The third blast that young Keeldar blew, His russet weeds were brown as heath An urchin, clad in prickles red, "Why rises high the stag-hound's cry, Where stag-hound ne'er should be? Why wakes that horn the silent morn, Without the leave of me?" "Brown dwarf, that o'er the moorland strays, Thy name to Keeldar tell!"-"The Brown man of the Moors, who stays Beneath the heather-bell. "'Tis sweet beneath the heather-bell To live in autumn brown; And sweet to hear the lav'rock's swell, "But woe betide the shrilling horn, The chase's surly cheer! And ever that hunter is forlorn, Whom first at morn I hear.' The poetical picture here given of the Duergar corresponds exactly with the following Northumbrian legend, with which I was lately favoured by my learned and kind friend, Mr. Surtees of Mainsforth, who has bestowed indefatigable labour upon the antiquities of the English Border counties. The subject is in itself so curious, that the length of the note will, I hope, be pardoned. I have only one record to offer of the appearance of our Northumbrian Duergar. My narratrix is Elizabeth Cockburn, an old wife of Offerton, in this county, whose credit, in a case of this kind, will not, I hope, be much impeached, when I add, that she is, by her dull neighbours, supposed to be occasionally insane, but, by herself, to be at those times endowed with a faculty of seeing visions, and spectral appearances which shun the common ken. 'In the year before the great rebellion, two young men from Newcastle were sporting on the high moors above Elsdon, and after pursuing their game several hours, sat down to dine in a green glen, near one of the mountain streams. After their repast, the younger lad ran to the brook for water, and after stooping to drink, was surprised, on lifting his head again, by the appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a crag covered with brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary personage did not appear to be above half the stature of a common man, but was uncommonly stout and broad-built, having the appearance of vast strength. His dress was entirely brown, the colour of the brackens, and his head covered with frizzled red hair. His countenance was expressive of the most savage ferocity, and his eyes glared like a bull. It seems he addressed the young man first, threatening him with his vengeance, for having trespassed on his demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whose presence he stood? The youth replied, that he now supposed him to be the lord of the moors; that he offended through ignorance; and offered to bring him the game he had killed. The dwarf was a little mollified by this submission, but remarked, that nothing could be more offensive to him than such an offer, as he considered the wild animals as his subjects, and never failed to avenge their destruction. He condescended further to inform him, that he was, like himself, mortal, though of years far exceeding the lot of common humanity; and (what I should not have had an idea of) that he hoped for salvation. He never, he added, fed on anything that had life, but lived in the summer on wortle-berries, and in winter on nuts and apples, of which he had great store in the woods. Finally, he invited his new acquaintance to accompany him home and partake his hospitality; an offer which the youth was on the point of accepting, and was just going to spring across the brook (which, if he had done, says Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him in pieces), when his foot was arrested by the voice of his companion, who thought he had tarried long; and on looking round again, the wee brown man was fled." The story adds, that he was imprudent enough to slight the admonition, and to sport over the moors on his way homewards; but soon after his return, he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within the year.' NOTE LII. Or who may dare on wold to wear As the Daoine Shi", or Men of Peace, wore green habits, they were supposed to take offence when any mortals ventured to assume their favourite colour. Indeed, from some reason which has been, perhaps, originally a general superstition, green is held in Scotland to be unlucky to particular tribes and counties. The Caithness men, who hold this belief, allege as a reason, that their bands wore that colour when they were cut off at the battle of Flodden; and for the same reason they avoid crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of the week on which their illomened array set forth. Green is also disliked by those of the name of Ogilvy; but more especially is it held fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered of an aged gentleman of that name, that when his horse fell in a fox-chase, he accounted for it at once by observing, that the whipcord attached to his lash was of this unlucky colour. NOTE LIII. For thou wert christen'd man.-P. 243. The elves were supposed greatly to envy the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they gave to those mortals who had fallen into their power a certain precedence, founded upon this advantageous distinction. Tamlane, in the old ballad, describes his own rank in the fairy procession: For I ride on a milk-white steed |