From the Recitation of Mrs. Brown
O Alison Gross, that lives in yon tower,The ugliest witch in the north countrie,Has trysted me ae day up till her bower,And mony fair speech she made to me.
She straiked my head, and she kembed my hair,And she set me down saftly on her knee,Says,--"Gin ye will be my lemman sae true,Sae mony braw things as I would you gi'e."
She shaw'd me a mantle o' red scarlet,Wi' gouden flowers and fringes fine,Says "Gin ye will be my lemman sae true,This goodly gift it sall be thine."
"Awa, awa, ye ugly witch,Haud far awa, and lat me be;I never will be your lemman sae true,And I wish I were out of your company."
She neist brocht a sark o' the saftest silk,Weel wrought wi' pearls about the band;Says,--"Gin ye will be my ain true love,This goodly gift ye sall command."
She shaw'd me a cup o' the good red goud,Weel set wi' jewels sae fair to see;Says,--"Gin ye will be my lemman sae true,This goodly gift I will you gie."
"Awa, awa, ye ugly witch!Haud far awa, and lat me be;For I wadna ance kiss your ugly mouthFor a' the gifts that ye cou'd gie."
She's turned her richt and round about,And thrice she blew on a grass-green horn;And she sware by the moon and the stars aboon,That she'd gar me rue the day I was born.
Then out has she ta'en a silver wand,And she's turned her three times round and round;She's mutter'd sic words, that my strength it fail'd,And I fell down senseless on the ground.
She's turn'd me into an ugly worm,And gar'd me toddle about the tree;And ay, on ilka Saturday's night,My sister Maisry came to me,
Wi' silver bason, and silver kemb,To kemb my headie upon her knee;But or I had kiss'd her ugly mouth,I'd rather hae toddled about the tree.
But as it fell out on last Hallowe'en,The queen lighted down on a gowan bank,Nae far frae the tree whare I wont to lye.
She took me up in her milk-white hand,And she straiked me three times o'er her knee;She changed me again to my ain proper shape,And I nae mair maun toddle about the tree.
Words in this poem
- braw a.
- Well-dressed; handsome; smart; brave; -- used of persons or their clothing, etc.; as, a braw lad.
- goodly a.
- Pleasant; agreeable; desirable. [OE. godlich, AS. g. See Good, and Like.]
- 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.]
- sark v. t.
- To cover with sarking, or thin boards.
- 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.]
- aboon prep.
- and adv. Above.
- toddle v. i.
- To walk with short, tottering steps, as a child. [Akin to tottle, totter.]
- gowan n.
- The daisy, or mountain daisy. [Scot., fr. Gael. gugan bud, flower, daisy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From the Recitation of Mrs. Brown 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, From the Recitation of Mrs. Brown, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/from-the-recitation-of-mrs-brown.html, id L08586.
Form and metre
From the Recitation of Mrs. Brown is 51 lines in 13 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 77%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.2 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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.
- 1 A-A- towerA · countrie · bowerA · me
- 3 -A-A scarlet · fineA · true · thineA
- 5 -A-A silk · bandA · love · commandA
- 8 -A-A about · hornA · aboon · bornA
- 9 -A-A wand · roundA · fail'd · groundA
- 10 -A-A worm · treeA · night · meA
- 11 -A-A kemb · kneeA · mouth · treeA
- 13 -A-A hand · kneeA · shape · treeA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| O Alison Gross, that lives in yon tower, | 9 | ·/˘·····/ |
| The ugliest witch in the north countrie, | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Has trysted me ae day up till her bower, | 10 | ·/˘······/ |
| And mony fair speech she made to me. | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| She straiked my head, and she kembed my hair, | 9 | ········· |
| And she set me down saftly on her knee, | 10 | ·········· |
| Says,--"Gin ye will be my lemman sae true, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| Sae mony braw things as I would you gi'e." | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| She shaw'd me a mantle o' red scarlet, | 10 | ····/˘··/˘ |
| Wi' gouden flowers and fringes fine, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Says "Gin ye will be my lemman sae true, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| This goodly gift it sall be thine." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Awa, awa, ye ugly witch, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Haud far awa, and lat me be; | 8 | ········ |
| I never will be your lemman sae true, | 9 | ·/···/˘·· |
| And I wish I were out of your company." | 10 | ········/˘ |
| She neist brocht a sark o' the saftest silk, | 10 | ·········· |
| Weel wrought wi' pearls about the band; | 8 | ········ |
| Says,--"Gin ye will be my ain true love, | 9 | ········· |
| This goodly gift ye sall command." | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| She shaw'd me a cup o' the good red goud, | 10 | ·········· |
| Weel set wi' jewels sae fair to see; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| Says,--"Gin ye will be my lemman sae true, | 10 | ······/˘·· |
| This goodly gift I will you gie." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "Awa, awa, ye ugly witch! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Haud far awa, and lat me be; | 8 | ········ |
| For I wadna ance kiss your ugly mouth | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| For a' the gifts that ye cou'd gie." | 8 | ········ |
| She's turned her richt and round about, | 8 | ········ |
| And thrice she blew on a grass-green horn; | 9 | ········· |
| And she sware by the moon and the stars aboon, | 11 | ·········˘/ |
| That she'd gar me rue the day I was born. | 10 | ·········· |
| Then out has she ta'en a silver wand, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And she's turned her three times round and round; | 9 | ········· |
| She's mutter'd sic words, that my strength it fail'd, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| And I fell down senseless on the ground. | 9 | ····/˘··· |
| She's turn'd me into an ugly worm, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And gar'd me toddle about the tree; | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| And ay, on ilka Saturday's night, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| My sister Maisry came to me, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Wi' silver bason, and silver kemb, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| To kemb my headie upon her knee; | 9 | ········· |
| But or I had kiss'd her ugly mouth, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| I'd rather hae toddled about the tree. | 10 | ·/˘·/˘···· |
| But as it fell out on last Hallowe'en, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| The queen lighted down on a gowan bank, | 10 | ··/˘···/˘· |
| Nae far frae the tree whare I wont to lye. | 10 | ·········· |
| She took me up in her milk-white hand, | 9 | ········· |
| And she straiked me three times o'er her knee; | 9 | ········· |
| She changed me again to my ain proper shape, | 11 | ···˘/···/˘· |
| And I nae mair maun toddle about the tree. | 11 | ·····/˘···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.