The Outlandish Knight
Javolenus
Came across this folk ballad today—one of the “Border Ballads” published by Francis Child in the 1890s. That said, the lyrical motif was known throughout Europe since early Medieval times. The English version sometimes appears as “Lady Isabel and the Elf Knight” or “The False Knight Outwitted”. In this context, “Outlandish” can mean “strange” or “foreign” or even “from the outlands” (i.e. the border between Scotland and England). Anyway, having found the lyrics I needed a melody, and so I took a 16th-century English tune called “Farewell and Adieu Ye Fine Spanish Ladies” and grafted it onto the lyrical idea (changing the tempo from the original 3/4 to 4/4). I then adapted the lyrics slightly, to make them scan better, and recorded the result straighaway.
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LYRICS [adapted from Child Ballad No. 4]
An outlandish knight came from the northlands;
And he came a-wooing to me;
He said he would take me to see foreign lands
And he promise-d to marry me.
Go fetch me some of your father’s gold,
And some of your mother’s fee,
And two of the best nags from out of the stable,
Where there are standing thirty and three.
She mounted upon her milkwhite steed,
And he upon his dapple grey;
They rode till they came unto the seaside,
Three hours before the breaking of day.
Light off, light off, thy milkwhite steed;
Deliver it up unto me;
For six pretty maidens have I drown’d here,
And thou the seventh shall be.
Take off, Take off thy silken garments,
Deliver them up unto me;
I think that they look too fine and too rich
To rot all in the salty sea.
If I must take off all of my garments,
Then pray turn thy back unto me;
For it is not fitting that such a ruffian
A naked woman should see.
And cut thou away the brambles so sharp,
The brambles cut from off the brim
That they may not tangle my curly locks,
Nor indeed scratch my lilywhite skin.
So he turned around, with his back towards her
And he bent down over the brim.
She caught him around the middle so slender
And bundled him into the cold dark stream.
He bobbed high, and he dropped low,
Until at last he came to the side;
Catch hold of my hand, my fair pretty maiden,
And thee I promise to make my bride.
Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted lover,
Lie there, lie there, instead of me,
For six pretty maidens hast thou a-drowned here
And now the seventh hath drown-ed thee.
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LYRICS [adapted from Child Ballad No. 4]
An outlandish knight came from the northlands;
And he came a-wooing to me;
He said he would take me to see foreign lands
And he promise-d to marry me.
Go fetch me some of your father’s gold,
And some of your mother’s fee,
And two of the best nags from out of the stable,
Where there are standing thirty and three.
She mounted upon her milkwhite steed,
And he upon his dapple grey;
They rode till they came unto the seaside,
Three hours before the breaking of day.
Light off, light off, thy milkwhite steed;
Deliver it up unto me;
For six pretty maidens have I drown’d here,
And thou the seventh shall be.
Take off, Take off thy silken garments,
Deliver them up unto me;
I think that they look too fine and too rich
To rot all in the salty sea.
If I must take off all of my garments,
Then pray turn thy back unto me;
For it is not fitting that such a ruffian
A naked woman should see.
And cut thou away the brambles so sharp,
The brambles cut from off the brim
That they may not tangle my curly locks,
Nor indeed scratch my lilywhite skin.
So he turned around, with his back towards her
And he bent down over the brim.
She caught him around the middle so slender
And bundled him into the cold dark stream.
He bobbed high, and he dropped low,
Until at last he came to the side;
Catch hold of my hand, my fair pretty maiden,
And thee I promise to make my bride.
Lie there, lie there, you false-hearted lover,
Lie there, lie there, instead of me,
For six pretty maidens hast thou a-drowned here
And now the seventh hath drown-ed thee.