THE
BLACK BULL OF NORROWAY
And
many a hunting song they sung,
And song of game and glee;
Then tuned to plaintive strains their tongue,
"Of Scotland's luve and lee."
To wilder measures next they turn
"The Black, Black Bull of Norroway!"
Sudden the tapers cease to burn,
The minstrels cease to play.
"The Cout of Keeldar," by J. Leyden.
In
Norroway, langsyne, there lived a certain lady, and she had three dochters. The
auldest o' them said to her mither: "Mither, bake me a bannock, and roast
me a collop, for I'm gaun awa' to seek my fortune." Her mither did sae;
and the dochter gaed awa' to an auld witch washerwife and telled her purpose.
The auld wife bade her stay that day, and gang and look out o' her back door,
and see what she could see. She saw nocht the first day. The second day she did
the same, and saw nocht. On the third day she looked again, and saw a
coach-and-six coming along the road. She ran in and telled the auld wife what
she saw. "Aweel," quo' the auld wife, "yon's for you." Sae
they took her into the coach, and galloped aff.
The
second dochter next says to her mither: "Mither, bake me a bannock, and
roast me a collop, fur I'm gaun awa' to seek my fortune." Her mither did
sae; and awa' she gaed to the auld wife, as her sister had dune. On the third
day she looked out o' the back door, and saw a coach-and-four coming along the
road. "Aweel," quo' the auld wife, "yon's for you." Sae
they took her in, and aff they set.
The
third dochter says to her mither: "Mither, bake me a bannock, and roast me
a collop, for I'm gaun awa' to seek my fortune." Her mither did sae; and
awa' she gaed to the auld witch-wife. She bade her look out o' her back door,
and see what she could see. She did sae; and when she came back said she saw
nocht. The second day she did the same, and saw nocht. The third day she looked
again, and on coming back said to the auld wife she saw nocht but a muckle
Black Bull coming roaring alang the road. "Aweel," quo' the auld
wife, "yon's for you." On hearing this she was next to distracted wi'
grief and terror; but she was lifted up and set on his back, and awa' they
went.
Aye
they traveled, and on they traveled, till the lady grew faint wi' hunger.
"Eat out o' my right lug," says the Black Bull, "and drink out
o' my left lug, and set by your leavings." Sae she did as he said, and was
wonderfully refreshed. And lang they gaed, and sair they rade, till they came
in sight o' a very big and bonny castle. "Yonder we maun be this
night," quo' the bull; "for my auld brither lives yonder"; and
presently they were at the place. They lifted her aff his back, and took her
in, and sent him away to a park for the night. In the morning, when they
brought the bull hame, they took the lady into a fine shining parlor, and gave
her a beautiful apple, telling her no to break it till she was in the greatest
strait ever mortal was in in the world, and that wad bring her o't. Again she
was lifted on the bull's back, and after she had ridden far, and farer than I
can tell, they came in sight o' a far bonnier castle, and far farther awa' than
the last. Says the bull till her: "Yonder we maun be the night, for my
second brither lives yonder"; and they were at the place directly. They
lifted her down and took her in, and sent the bull to the field for the night.
In the morning they took the lady into a fine and rich room, and gave her the
finest pear she had ever seen, bidding her no to break it till she was in the
greatest strait ever mortal could be in, and that wad get her out o't. Again
she was lifted and set on his back, and awa' they went. And lang they gaed, and
sair they rade, till they came in sight o' the far biggest castle, and far
farthest aff, they had yet seen. "We maun be yonder the night," says
the bull, "for my young brither lives yonder"; and they were there
directly. They lifted her down, took her in, and sent the bull to the field for
the night. In the morning they took her into a room, the finest of a', and gied
her a plum, telling her no to break it till she was in the greatest strait
mortal could be in, and that wad get her out o't. Presently they brought hame
the bull, set the lady on his back, and awa' they went.
And
aye they gaed, and on they rade, till they came to a dark and ugsome glen,
where they stopped, and the lady lighted down. Says the bull to her: "Here
ye maun stay till I gang and fight the deil. Ye maun seat yoursel' on that
stane, and move neither hand nor fit till I come back, else I'll never find ye
again. And if everything round about ye turns blue I hae beated the deil; but
should a' things turn red he'll hae conquered me." She set hersel' down on
the stane, and by-and-by a' round her turned blue. O'ercome wi' joy, she lifted
the ae fit and crossed it owre the ither, sae glad was she that her companion
was victorious. The bull returned and sought for but never could find her.
Lang
she sat, and aye she grat, till she wearied. At last she rase and gaed awa',
she kedna whaur till. On she wandered till she came to a great hill o' glass,
that she tried a' she could to climb, bat wasna able. Round the bottom o' the
hill she gaed, sabbing and seeking a passage owre, till at last she came to a
smith's house; and the smith promised, if she wad serve him seven years, he wad
make her iron shoon, wherewi' she could climb owre the glassy hill. At seven
years' end she got her iron shoon, clamb the glassy hill, and chanced to come
to the auld washerwife's habitation. There she was telled of a gallant young
knight that had given in some bluidy sarks to wash, and whaever washed thae
sarks was to be his wife. The auld wife had washed till she was tired, and then
she set to her dochter, and baith washed, and they washed, and they better
washed, in hopes of getting the young knight; but a' they could do they couldna
bring out a stain. At length they set the stranger damosel to wark; and
whenever she began the stains came out pure and clean, but the auld wife made
the knight believe it was her dochter had washed the sarks. So the knight and
the eldest dochter were to be married, and the stranger damosel was distracted
at the thought of it, for she was deeply in love wi' him. So she bethought her
of her apple, and breaking it, found it filled with gold and precious jewelry,
the richest she had ever seen. "All these," she said to the eldest
dochter, "I will give you, on condition that you put off your marriage for
ae day, and allow me to go into his room alone at night." So the lady
consented; but meanwhile the auld wife had prepared a sleeping-drink, and given
it to the knight, wha drank it, and never wakened till next morning. The
lee-lang night ther damosel sabbed and sang:
"Seven
lang years I served for thee,
The glassy hill I clamb for thee,
The bluidy shirt I wrang for thee;
And wilt thou no wauken and turn to me?"
Next
day she kentna what to do for grief. She then brak the pear, and found it
filled wi' jewelry far richer than the contents o' the apple. Wi' thae jewels
she bargained for permission to be a second night in the young knight's
chamber; but the auld wife gied him anither sleeping-drink, and he again
sleepit till morning. A' night she kept sighing and singing as before:
"Seven
lang years I served for thee," &c. Still he sleepit, and she nearly
lost hope a'thegither. But that day when he was out at the hunting, somebody
asked him what noise and moaning was yon they heard all last night in his
bedchamber. He said he heardna ony noise. But they assured him there was sae;
and he resolved to keep waking that night to try what he could hear. That being
the third night, and the damosel being between hope and despair, she brak her
plum, and it held far the richest jewelry of the three. She bargained as
before; and the auld wife, as before, took in the sleeping-drink to the young
knight's chamber; but he telled her he couldna drink it that night without
sweetening. And when she gaed awa' for some honey to sweeten it wi', he poured
out the drink, and sae made the auld wife think he had drunk it. They a' went
to bed again, and the damosel began, as before, singing:
"Seven
lang years I served for thee,
The glassy hill I clamb for thee,
The bluidy shirt I wrang for thee;
And wilt thou no wauken and turn to me?"
He
heard, and turned to her. And she telled him a' that had befa'en her, and he
telled her a' that had happened to him. And he caused the auld washerwife and
her dochter to be burned. And they were married, and he and she are living
happy till this day, for aught I ken.[1]
[1]
Chambers, Popular Traditions of Scotland.
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