Cospatrick
Cospatrick has sent o'er the faem;Cospatrick brought his ladye hame;And fourscore ships have come her wi',The ladye by the grene-wood tree.
There were twal' and twal' wi' baken bread,And twal' and twal' wi' gowd sae reid,And twal' and twal' wi' bouted flour,And twal' and twal' wi' the paramour.
Sweet Willy was a widow's son,And at her stirrup he did run;And she was clad in the finest pall,But aye she let the tears down fall.
"O is your saddle set awrye?Or rides your steed for you ower high?Or are you mourning, in your tide,That you suld be Cospatrick's bride?"
"I am not mourning, at this tide,That I suld be Cospatrick's bride;But I am sorrowing in my mood,That I suld leave my mother good.
"But, gentle boy, come tell to me,What is the custom of thy countrie?"--"The custom thereof, my dame," he says,"Will ill a gentle laydye please.
"Seven king's daughters has our lord wedded,And seven king's daughters has our lord bedded;But he's cutted their breasts frae their breast-bane,And sent them mourning hame again.
"Yet, gin you're sure that you're a maid,Ye may gae safely to his bed;But gif o' that ye be na sure,Then hire some damsell o' your bour."--
The ladye's call'd her bour maiden,That waiting was into her train;"Five thousand merks I'll gie to thee,To sleep this night with my lord for me."--
When bells were rang, and mass was sayne,And a' men unto bed were gane,Cospatrick and the bonny maid,Into a chamber they were laid.
"Now, speak to me, blankets, and speak to me, bed,And speak, thou sheet, enchanted web;And speak up, my bonny brown sword, that winna lie,Is this a true maiden that lies by me?"--
"It is not a maid that you hae wedded,But it is a maid that you hae bedded;It is a leal maiden that lies by thee,But not the maiden that it should be."--
O wrathfully he left the bed,And wrathfully his claes on did;And he has ta'en him through the ha',And on his mother he did ca'.
"I am the most unhappy man,That ever was in Christen land!I courted a maiden, meik and mild,And I hae gotten naething but a woman wi' child."--
"O stay, my son, into this ha',And sport ye wi' your merry men a';And I will to the secret bour,To see how it fares wi' your paramour."--
The carline she was stark and sture,She aff the hinges dang the dure;"O is your bairn to laird or loun,Or is it to your father's groom?"--
"O hear me, mother, on my knee,Till my sad story I tell to thee:O we were sisters, sisters seven,We were the fairest under heaven.
"It fell on a summer's afternoon,When a' our toilsome task was done,We cast the kevils us amang,To see which suld to the grene-wood gang.
"Ohon! alas, for I was youngest,And aye my wierd it was the hardest!The kevil it on me did fa',Whilk was the cause of a' my woe.
"For to the grene-wood I maun gae,To pu' the red rose and the slae;To pu' the red rose and the thyme,To deck my mother's bour and mine.
"I hadna pu'd a flower but ane,When by there came a gallant hende,Wi' high-coll'd hose and laigh-coll'd shoon,And he seem'd to be sum kingis son.
"And be I a maid, or be I nae,He kept me there till the close o' day;And be I a maid, or be I nane,He kept me there till the day was done.
"He gae me a lock o' his yellow hair,And bade me keep it ever mair;He gae me a carknet o' bonny beads,And bade me keep it against my needs.
"He gae to me a gay gold ring,And bade me keep it abune a' thing."--"What did ye wi' the tokens rare,That ye gat frae that gallant there?"--
"O bring that coffer unto me,And a' the tokens ye sall see."--"Now stay, daughter, your bour within,While I gae parley wi' my son."--
O she has ta'en her thro' the ha',And on her son began to ca';"What did ye wi' the bonny beadsI bade you keep against your needs?
"What did you wi' the gay gold ringI bade you keep abune a' thing?"--"I gae them to a ladye gay,I met on grene-wood on a day.
"But I wad gie a' my halls and tours,I had that ladye within my bours;But I wad gie my very life,I had that ladye to my wife."--
"Now keep, my son, your ha's and tours,Ye have the bright burd in your bours;And keep, my son, your very life,Ye have that ladye to your wife."--
Now, or a month was come and gane,The ladye bare a bonny son;And 'twas weel written on his breast-bane,"Cospatrick[L120] is my father's name.""O row my lady in satin and silk,And wash my son in the morning milk."
Words in this poem 26
- fourscore a.
- Four times twenty; eighty. [Four + core, n.]
- willy n.
- A large wicker basket. Halliwell. [Cf. Willow.]
- clad v.
- To clothe. Holland.
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- wedded a.
- Joined in wedlock; married.
- bedded a.
- Provided with a bed; as, double-bedded room; placed or arranged in a bed or beds.
- bane v. t.
- To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
- damsell n.
- A young person, either male or female, of noble or gentle extraction; as, Damsel Pepin; Damsel Richard, Prince of Wales. [OE. damosel, damesel, damisel, damsel, fr. OF. damoisele, damisele, gentlewoman, F. demoiselle young lady; cf. OF. damoisel young nobleman, F. damoiseau; fr. LL]
- bour n.
- A chamber or a cottage. [See Bower a chamber.]
- gane v. i.
- To yawn; to gape. [See Yawn.]
- bonny a.
- Handsome; beautiful; pretty; attractively lively and graceful. [OE. boni, prob. fr. F. bon, fem. bonne, good, fr. L. bonus good. See Bounty, and cf. Bonus, Boon.]
- enchanted a.
- Under the power of enchantment; possessed or exercised by enchanters; as, an enchanted castle.
- leal a.
- Faithful; loyal; true. [OE. leial, another form of loial, F. loyal. See Loyal.]
- christen v. t.
- To baptize and give a Christian name to. [AS. cristnian to make a Christian, fr. cristen a Christian.]
- carline n.
- A silver coin once current in some parts of Italy, worth about seven cents. Simmonds. [F. carin; cf. It. carlino; -- so called from Carlo (Charles) VI. of Naples.]
- stark adv.
- Wholly; entirely; absolutely; quite; as, stark mind.
- dure v. i.
- To last; to continue; to endure. Sir W. Raleigh. [F. durer, L. durare to harden, be hardened, to endure, last, fr. durus hard. See Dure, a.]
- laird n.
- A lord; a landholder, esp. one who holds land directly of the crown. [See Lord.]
- afternoon n.
- The part of the day which follows noon, between noon and evening.
- whilk n.
- A kind of mollusk, a whelk. [See Whelk a mollusk.]
- hende a.
- Skillful; dexterous; clever. [OE., near, handy, kind, fr. AS. gehende near, fr. hand hand. See Handy.]
- bade
- A form of the pat tense of Bid.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- sall n.
- An East Indian timber tree (Shorea robusta), much used for building purposes. It is of a light brown color, close-grained, and durable. [Hind. s\'bel, Skr. ç\'bela.]
- weel
- A kind of trap or snare for fish, made of twigs. Carew. [Prov. E. weel, weal, a wicker basket to catch eels; prob. akin to willow, and so called as made of willow twigs.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Cospatrick is in the public domain. This text is taken from English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I, Project Gutenberg ebook #37031; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Francis James Child, Cospatrick, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/cospatrick.html, id L08583.
Form and metre
Cospatrick is 122 lines in 30 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 61% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 84%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.5 syllables. 13 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 --AA bread · reid · flourA · paramourA
- 3 AABB sonA · runA · pallB · fallB
- 4 AABB awryeA · highA · tideB · brideB
- 5 AA-- tideA · brideA · mood · good
- 7 AABB weddedA · beddedA · baneB · againB
- 9 AABB maidenA · trainA · theeB · meB
- 10 AABB sayneA · ganeA · maidB · laidB
- 11 --AA bed · web · lieA · meA
- 12 AABB weddedA · beddedA · theeB · beB
- 13 --AA bed · did · haA · caA
- 14 --AA man · land · mildA · childA
- 15 AABB haA · aA · bourB · paramourB
- 17 AABB kneeA · theeA · sevenB · heavenB
- 18 --AA afternoon · done · amangA · gangA
- 20 AA-- gaeA · slaeA · thyme · mine
- 23 AABB hairA · mairA · beadsB · needsB
- 24 AABB ringA · thingA · rareB · thereB
- 25 AA-- meA · seeA · within · son
- 26 AABB haA · caA · beadsB · needsB
- 27 AABB ringA · thingA · gayB · dayB
- 28 AABB toursA · boursA · lifeB · wifeB
- 29 AABB toursA · boursA · lifeB · wifeB
- 30 A-A-BB ganeA · son · baneA · name · silkB · milkB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Cospatrick has sent o'er the faem; | 8 | ········ |
| Cospatrick brought his ladye hame; | 8 | ········ |
| And fourscore ships have come her wi', | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The ladye by the grene-wood tree. | 8 | ········ |
| There were twal' and twal' wi' baken bread, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And twal' and twal' wi' gowd sae reid, | 8 | ········ |
| And twal' and twal' wi' bouted flour, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And twal' and twal' wi' the paramour. | 9 | ······/˘˘ |
| Sweet Willy was a widow's son, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And at her stirrup he did run; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And she was clad in the finest pall, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| But aye she let the tears down fall. | 8 | ········ |
| "O is your saddle set awrye? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Or rides your steed for you ower high? | 9 | ········· |
| Or are you mourning, in your tide, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That you suld be Cospatrick's bride?" | 8 | ········ |
| "I am not mourning, at this tide, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That I suld be Cospatrick's bride; | 8 | ········ |
| But I am sorrowing in my mood, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That I suld leave my mother good. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "But, gentle boy, come tell to me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| What is the custom of thy countrie?"-- | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| "The custom thereof, my dame," he says, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| "Will ill a gentle laydye please. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Seven king's daughters has our lord wedded, | 9 | /·/˘·/·/˘ |
| And seven king's daughters has our lord bedded; | 10 | ·/·/˘·/·/˘ |
| But he's cutted their breasts frae their breast-bane, | 10 | ··/˘······ |
| And sent them mourning hame again. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| "Yet, gin you're sure that you're a maid, | 8 | ········ |
| Ye may gae safely to his bed; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| But gif o' that ye be na sure, | 8 | ········ |
| Then hire some damsell o' your bour."-- | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| The ladye's call'd her bour maiden, | 8 | ······/˘ |
| That waiting was into her train; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Five thousand merks I'll gie to thee, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| To sleep this night with my lord for me."-- | 9 | ········· |
| When bells were rang, and mass was sayne, | 8 | ········ |
| And a' men unto bed were gane, | 8 | ········ |
| Cospatrick and the bonny maid, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Into a chamber they were laid. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Now, speak to me, blankets, and speak to me, bed, | 11 | ····/˘····· |
| And speak, thou sheet, enchanted web; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| And speak up, my bonny brown sword, that winna lie, | 12 | ····/˘······ |
| Is this a true maiden that lies by me?"-- | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| "It is not a maid that you hae wedded, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| But it is a maid that you hae bedded; | 10 | ········/˘ |
| It is a leal maiden that lies by thee, | 10 | ····/˘···· |
| But not the maiden that it should be."-- | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| O wrathfully he left the bed, | 8 | ········ |
| And wrathfully his claes on did; | 8 | ········ |
| And he has ta'en him through the ha', | 8 | ········ |
| And on his mother he did ca'. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "I am the most unhappy man, | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| That ever was in Christen land! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I courted a maiden, meik and mild, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘··· |
| And I hae gotten naething but a woman wi' child."-- | 14 | ···/˘·····/˘·· |
| "O stay, my son, into this ha', | 8 | ········ |
| And sport ye wi' your merry men a'; | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| And I will to the secret bour, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To see how it fares wi' your paramour."-- | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| The carline she was stark and sture, | 8 | ········ |
| She aff the hinges dang the dure; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| "O is your bairn to laird or loun, | 8 | ········ |
| Or is it to your father's groom?"-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "O hear me, mother, on my knee, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Till my sad story I tell to thee: | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| O we were sisters, sisters seven, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| We were the fairest under heaven. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| "It fell on a summer's afternoon, | 9 | ····/˘·˘/ |
| When a' our toilsome task was done, | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| We cast the kevils us amang, | 8 | ········ |
| To see which suld to the grene-wood gang. | 9 | ········· |
| "Ohon! alas, for I was youngest, | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| And aye my wierd it was the hardest! | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The kevil it on me did fa', | 8 | ········ |
| Whilk was the cause of a' my woe. | 8 | ········ |
| "For to the grene-wood I maun gae, | 8 | ········ |
| To pu' the red rose and the slae; | 8 | ········ |
| To pu' the red rose and the thyme, | 8 | ········ |
| To deck my mother's bour and mine. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "I hadna pu'd a flower but ane, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| When by there came a gallant hende, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Wi' high-coll'd hose and laigh-coll'd shoon, | 8 | ········ |
| And he seem'd to be sum kingis son. | 9 | ········· |
| "And be I a maid, or be I nae, | 9 | ········· |
| He kept me there till the close o' day; | 9 | ········· |
| And be I a maid, or be I nane, | 9 | ········· |
| He kept me there till the day was done. | 9 | ········· |
| "He gae me a lock o' his yellow hair, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And bade me keep it ever mair; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He gae me a carknet o' bonny beads, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| And bade me keep it against my needs. | 9 | ········· |
| "He gae to me a gay gold ring, | 8 | ········ |
| And bade me keep it abune a' thing."-- | 9 | ········· |
| "What did ye wi' the tokens rare, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That ye gat frae that gallant there?"-- | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| "O bring that coffer unto me, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And a' the tokens ye sall see."-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Now stay, daughter, your bour within, | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| While I gae parley wi' my son."-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| O she has ta'en her thro' the ha', | 8 | ········ |
| And on her son began to ca'; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| "What did ye wi' the bonny beads | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I bade you keep against your needs? | 8 | ········ |
| "What did you wi' the gay gold ring | 8 | ········ |
| I bade you keep abune a' thing?"-- | 8 | ········ |
| "I gae them to a ladye gay, | 8 | ········ |
| I met on grene-wood on a day. | 8 | ········ |
| "But I wad gie a' my halls and tours, | 9 | ········· |
| I had that ladye within my bours; | 9 | ········· |
| But I wad gie my very life, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I had that ladye to my wife."-- | 8 | ········ |
| "Now keep, my son, your ha's and tours, | 8 | ········ |
| Ye have the bright burd in your bours; | 8 | ········ |
| And keep, my son, your very life, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ye have that ladye to your wife."-- | 8 | ········ |
| Now, or a month was come and gane, | 8 | ········ |
| The ladye bare a bonny son; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And 'twas weel written on his breast-bane, | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| "Cospatrick[L120] is my father's name." | 9 | ······/˘· |
| "O row my lady in satin and silk, | 10 | ···/˘·/˘·· |
| And wash my son in the morning milk." | 9 | ······/˘· |
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