The Elfin Knight
Reprinted from A Collection of Curious Old Ballads and MiscellaneousPoetry, Edinburgh. David Webster, 1824.
Other versions are given in Motherwell's Minstrelsy, (see theAppendix to this volume;) Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, (p.145;) Buchan's Ancient Ballads, (ii. 296.)
Similar collections of impossibilities in The Trooper and Fair Maid,Buchan, i. 230; Robin's Tesment, id., i. 273, or Aytoun, 2d ed. ii.197; As I was walking under a grove, Pills to purge Melancholy, v.370. See also post, vol. ii. 224, 352, vol. iv. 132, 287; and inGerman, Von eitel unmoeglichen Dingen, Erk's Liederhort, p. 334-37;Uhland, Eitle Dinge, No. 4, A, B; Wunderhorn, ii. 410.
The Elfin knight sits on yon hill,Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba.He blaws his horn baith loud and shrill.The wind hath blawn my plaid awa.
He blaws it east, he blaws it west,He blaws it where he liketh best.
"I wish that horn were in my kist,Yea, and the knight in my arms niest."
She had no sooner these words said,Than the knight came to her bed.
"Thou art o'er young a maid," quoth he,"Married with me, that thou would'st be."
"I have a sister, younger than I,And she was married yesterday."
"Married with me if thou would'st be,A curtisie thou must do to me.
"It's ye maun mak a sark to me,Without any cut or seam," quoth he;
"And ye maun shape it, knife-, sheerless,And also sew it needle-, threedless."
"If that piece of courtisie I do to thee,Another thou must do to me.
"I have an aiker of good ley land,Which lyeth low by yon sea strand;
"It's ye maun till't wi' your touting horn,And ye maun saw't wi' the pepper corn;
"And ye maun harrow't wi' a thorn,And hae your wark done ere the morn;
"And ye maun shear it wi' your knife,And no lose a stack o't for your life;
"And ye maun stack it in a mouse hole,And ye maun thrash it in your shoe sole;
"And ye maun dight it in your loof,And also sack it in your glove;
"And ye maun bring it over the sea,Fair, and clean, and dry to me;
"And when that ye have done your wark,Come back to me, and ye'll get your sark."
"I'll not quite my plaid for my life;It haps my seven bairnes and my wife."
"My maidenhead I'll then keep still,Let the Elfin knight do what he will.
"My plaid awa, my plaid away,And owre the hills and far awa,And far awa to Norowa',My plaid shall not be blawn awa."
Words in this poem
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- webster n.
- A weaver; originally, a female weaver. Brathwait. [AS. webbestre. See Web, Weave, and -ster.]
- minstrelsy n.
- The arts and occupation of minstrels; the singing and playing of a minstrel.
- trooper n.
- A soldier in a body of cavalry; a cavalryman; also, the horse of a cavalryman.
- elfin a.
- Relating to elves.
- kist n.
- A chest; hence, a coffin. Jamieson. [See Chest.]
- quoth v. t.
- Said; spoke; uttered; -- used only in the first and third persons in the past tenses, and always followed by its nominative, the word or words said being the object; as, quoth I. quoth he. [AS.cweedhan, imp cwæedh, pl. cwædon; akin to OS. queedhan, OHG. quethan, quedan, Icel. kveedha, Goth. qiþan. sq. root22. Cf. Bequeath.]
- sark v. t.
- To cover with sarking, or thin boards.
- wark n.
- Work; a building. [See Work.]
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- dight v. t.
- To prepare; to put in order; hence, to dress, or put on; to array; to adorn. [OF. dihten, AS. dihtan to dictate, command, dispose, arrange, fr. L. dictare to say often, dictate, order; cf. G. dichten to write poetry, fr. L. dictare. See D]
- loof n.
- The spongelike fibers of the fruit of a cucurbitaceous plant (Luffa Ægyptiaca); called also vegetable sponge.
- maidenhead n.
- The state of being a maiden; maidenhood; virginity. [See Maidenhood.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Elfin Knight 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, The Elfin Knight, in English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (1857), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #37031, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/child-ballads/the-elfin-knight.html, id L08577.
Form and metre
The Elfin Knight is 57 lines in 24 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 63% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 82%). 95% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 9.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 5% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
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- theA · pA · —
- 3 ----AA maid · ii · v · in · — · —
- 4 A-A- hillA · ba · shrillA · awa
- 5 AA westA · bestA
- 6 AA kistA · niestA
- 7 AA saidA · bedA
- 8 AA heA · beA
- 10 AA beA · meA
- 11 AA meA · heA
- 12 AA sheerlessA · threedlessA
- 13 AA theeA · meA
- 14 AA landA · strandA
- 15 AA hornA · cornA
- 16 AA thornA · mornA
- 17 AA knifeA · lifeA
- 18 AA holeA · soleA
- 20 AA seaA · meA
- 22 AA lifeA · wifeA
- 23 AA stillA · willA
- 24 -A-A away · awaA · norowa · awaA
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Reprinted from A Collection of Curious Old Ballads and Miscellaneous | 19 | ˘/˘··˘/˘·/˘·/˘··˘/˘ |
| Poetry, Edinburgh. David Webster, 1824. | 9 | /˘/˘˘/˘/˘ |
| Other versions are given in Motherwell's Minstrelsy, (see the | 15 | /˘/˘·/····/˘˘·· |
| Appendix to this volume;) Kinloch's Ancient Scottish Ballads, (p. | 16 | ˘/˘··/˘/˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| 145;) Buchan's Ancient Ballads, (ii. 296.) | 7 | /˘/˘/˘· |
| Similar collections of impossibilities in The Trooper and Fair Maid, | 18 | /˘˘/˘·˘·˘/˘··/˘··· |
| Buchan, i. 230; Robin's Tesment, id., i. 273, or Aytoun, 2d ed. ii. | 15 | /˘·/˘·········· |
| 197; As I was walking under a grove, Pills to purge Melancholy, v. | 17 | ···/˘·······/˘·˘· |
| 370. See also post, vol. ii. 224, 352, vol. iv. 132, 287; and in | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| German, Von eitel unmoeglichen Dingen, Erk's Liederhort, p. 334-37; | 16 | /˘·/˘··········· |
| Uhland, Eitle Dinge, No. 4, A, B; Wunderhorn, ii. 410. | 12 | /˘·········· |
| The Elfin knight sits on yon hill, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ba, ba, ba, lillie ba. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He blaws his horn baith loud and shrill. | 10 | ·········· |
| The wind hath blawn my plaid awa. | 8 | ········ |
| He blaws it east, he blaws it west, | 8 | ········ |
| He blaws it where he liketh best. | 8 | ········ |
| "I wish that horn were in my kist, | 8 | ········ |
| Yea, and the knight in my arms niest." | 8 | ········ |
| She had no sooner these words said, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Than the knight came to her bed. | 7 | ······· |
| "Thou art o'er young a maid," quoth he, | 8 | ········ |
| "Married with me, that thou would'st be." | 8 | /˘······ |
| "I have a sister, younger than I, | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| And she was married yesterday." | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| "Married with me if thou would'st be, | 8 | /˘······ |
| A curtisie thou must do to me. | 9 | ········· |
| "It's ye maun mak a sark to me, | 8 | ········ |
| Without any cut or seam," quoth he; | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| "And ye maun shape it, knife-, sheerless, | 8 | ········ |
| And also sew it needle-, threedless." | 9 | ·/˘··/˘·· |
| "If that piece of courtisie I do to thee, | 11 | ··········· |
| Another thou must do to me. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| "I have an aiker of good ley land, | 9 | ········· |
| Which lyeth low by yon sea strand; | 7 | ······· |
| "It's ye maun till't wi' your touting horn, | 9 | ······/˘· |
| And ye maun saw't wi' the pepper corn; | 9 | ······/˘· |
| "And ye maun harrow't wi' a thorn, | 8 | ········ |
| And hae your wark done ere the morn; | 8 | ········ |
| "And ye maun shear it wi' your knife, | 8 | ········ |
| And no lose a stack o't for your life; | 9 | ········· |
| "And ye maun stack it in a mouse hole, | 9 | ········· |
| And ye maun thrash it in your shoe sole; | 9 | ········· |
| "And ye maun dight it in your loof, | 8 | ········ |
| And also sack it in your glove; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "And ye maun bring it over the sea, | 8 | ········ |
| Fair, and clean, and dry to me; | 7 | ······· |
| "And when that ye have done your wark, | 8 | ········ |
| Come back to me, and ye'll get your sark." | 9 | ········· |
| "I'll not quite my plaid for my life; | 8 | ········ |
| It haps my seven bairnes and my wife." | 8 | ···/···· |
| "My maidenhead I'll then keep still, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| Let the Elfin knight do what he will. | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| "My plaid awa, my plaid away, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| And owre the hills and far awa, | 8 | ········ |
| And far awa to Norowa', | 8 | ········ |
| My plaid shall not be blawn awa." | 8 | ········ |
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