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The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Vol. 4

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HOBIE NOBLE

a. Caw's Poetical Museum, p. 193. b. 'Hobie Noble,' Percy Papers.

* * *

SCOTT'S MINSTRELSY, I, 164, 1802, II, 90, 1833. The source is not mentioned, but was undoubtedly Caw's Museum, though there are variations of text, attributable to the editor. A copy in the Campbell MSS, I, 230, is again from the Museum, with several corrections, two of which are also found in Scott. Caw received the ballad, says Sir Walter, from John Elliot of Reidheugh. b seems to have been sent Percy (with 'Dick o the Cow') by Roger Halt, in 1775.

Hobie Noble, though banished from Bewcastle for his irregularities, will always command the hearty liking of those who live too late to suffer from them, on account of his gallant bearing in the rescue of Jock o the Side. See especially No 187, A, of which Hobie is the hero. All that we know of him is so much as we are told in that ballad and in this. He attached himself, after his expulsion from England, to the laird of Mangerton, who gives him the praise 'Thy coat is blue, thou has been true.'

Sim o the Mains, an Armstrong of the Whithaugh branch (the most important after that of Mangerton), undertakes to betray Hobie to the English land-sergeant. A tryst is set at Kershope-foot, the junction of that stream with the Liddel; and Hobie, who lives a little way up the Liddel, rides eagerly down the water to keep it. He meets five men, who ask him to join them in a raid into England. Hobie dares not go by day; the land-sergeant is at feud with him on account of a brother's death, in which Hobie must have had a hand, and 'the great earl of Whitfield' has suffered from his depredations; but he will be their guide if they will wait till night. He takes them to the Foulbogshiel, where they alight, and word is sent by Sim to the land-sergeant at Askerton, his adversary's residence; the land-sergeant orders the men of the neighborhood to meet him at daybreak. Hobie has a bad dream, wakes his comrades in alarm, and sets out to guide them across the Waste; but the sergeant's force come before him, and Sim behind; his sword breaks; he is bound with his own bow-string and taken to Carlisle. As he goes up the quarter called the Rickergate, the wives say one to the other, That's the man that loosed Jock o the Side! They offer him bread and beer, and urge him to confess stealing "my lord's" horses; he swears a great oath that he never had beast of my lord's. He is to die the next day, and says his farewell to Mangerton; he would rather be called 'Hobie Noble' and be hanged in Carlisle, than be called' Traitor Mains' and eat and drink.

Mr R. B. Armstrong informs me that he has found no notice of Hobie Noble except that Hobbe Noble, with eight others, "lived within the Nyxons, near to Bewcastle."

1569. "Lancy Armistrang of Quhithauch obliged him ... for Sym Armistrang of the Mains and the rest of the Armistrangis of his gang. Syme of the Mains was lodged in Wester Wemys." (Register of the Privy Council of Scotland.)

4. The Mains was a place a very little to the east of Castleton, on the opposite, or north, side of the Liddel. 13-17. Askerton is in the Waste of Bewcastle, "about seventeen miles" northeast of Carlisle. "Willeva and Spear-Edom [otherwise Spade-Adam] are small districts in Bewcastle dale, through which also the Hartlie-burn takes its course. Conscowthart-Green and Rodric-haugh and the Foulbogshiel are the names of places in the same wilds, through which the Scottish plunderers generally made their raids upon England." (Scott.)

Sim o the Mains fled into England from the resentment of his chief, but was himself executed at Carlisle about two months after Hobie's death. "Such is at least the tradition of Liddesdale," says Scott. This is of course, notwithstanding the precision of the interval of two months, what Lord Bacon calls "an imagination as one would"; an appendage of a later generation, in the interest of poetical justice.

* * *

1 FOUL fa the breast first treason bred in!
That Liddisdale may safely say,
For in it there was baith meat and drink,
And corn unto our geldings gay. Fala la diddle, etc.

2 We were stout-hearted men and true,
As England it did often say;
But now we may turn our backs and fly,
Since brave Noble is seld away.

3 Now Hobie he was an English man,
And born into Bewcastle dale,
But his misdeeds they were sae great,
They banishd him to Liddisdale.

4 At Kershope-foot the tryst was set,
Kershope of the lily lee;
And there was traitour Sim o the Mains,
With him a private companie.

5 Then Hobie has graithd his body weel,
I wat it was wi baith good iron and steel;
And he has pulld out his fringed grey,
And there, brave Noble, he rade him weel.

6 Then Hobie is down the water gane,
Een as fast as he may drie;
Tho they shoud a' brusten and broken their hearts,
Frae that tryst Noble he would not be.

7 'Weel may ye be, my feiries five!
And aye, what is your wills wi me?'
Then they cryd a' wi ae consent,
Thou'rt welcome here, brave Noble, to me.

8 Wilt thou with us in England ride?
And thy safe-warrand we will be,
If we get a horse worth a hundred punds,
Upon his back that thou shalt be.

9 'I dare not with you into England ride,
The land-sergeant has me at feid;
I know not what evil may betide
For Peter of Whitfield his brother's dead.

10 'And Anton Shiel, he loves not me,
For I gat twa drifts of his sheep;
The great Earl of Whitfield loves me not,
For nae gear frae me he eer coud keep.

11 'But will ye stay till the day gae down,
Until the night come oer the grund,
And I'll be a guide worth ony twa
That may in Liddisdale be fund.

12 'Tho dark the night as pick and tar,
I'll guide ye oer yon hills fu hie,
And bring ye a' in safety back,
If you'll be true and follow me.'

13 He's guided them oer moss and muir,
Oer hill and houp, and mony ae down,
Til they came to the Foulbogshiel,
And there brave Noble he lighted down.

14 Then word is gane to the land-sergeant,
In Askirton where that he lay:
'The deer that ye hae hunted lang
Is seen into the Waste this day.'

15 'Then Hobie Noble is that deer;
I wat he carries the style fu hie!
Aft has he beat your slough-hounds back,
And set yourselves at little ee.

16 'Gar warn the bows of Hartlie-burn,
See they shaft their arrows on the wa!
Warn Willeva and Spear Edom,
And see the morn they meet me a'.

17 'Gar meet me on the Rodrie-haugh,
And see it be by break o day;
And we will on to Conscowthart Green,
For there, I think, w'll get our prey.'

18 Then Hobie Noble has dreamd a dream,
In the Foulbogshiel where that he lay;
He thought his horse was neath him shot,
And he himself got hard away.

19 The cocks could crow, and the day could dawn,
And I wat so even down fell the rain;
If Hobie had no wakend at that time,
In the Foulbogshiel he had been tane or slain.

20 'Get up, get up, my feiries five -
For I wat here makes a fu ill day -
And the warst clock of this companie
I hope shall cross the Waste this day.'

21 Now Hobie thought the gates were clear,
But, ever alas! it was not sae;
They were beset wi cruel men and keen,
That away brave Noble could not gae.

22 'Yet follow me, my feiries five,
And see of me ye keep good ray,
And the worst clock of this companie
I hope shall cross the Waste this day.'

23 There was heaps of men now Hobie before,
And other heaps was him behind,
That had he been as wight as Wallace was
Away brave Noble he could not win.

24 Then Hobie he had but a laddies sword,
But he did more than a laddies deed;
In the midst of Conscouthart Green,
He brake it oer Jers a Wigham's head.

25 Now they have tane brave Hobie Noble,
Wi his ain bowstring they band him sae;
And I wat his heart was neer sae sair
As when his ain five band him on the brae.

26 They have tane him [on] for West Carlisle;
They askd him if he knew the way;
Whateer he thought, yet little he said;
He knew the way as well as they.

27 They hae tane him up the Ricker-gate;
The wives they cast their windows wide,
And ilka wife to anither can say,
That's the man loosd Jock o the Side!

28 'Fy on ye, women! why ca ye me man?
For it's nae man that I'm usd like;
I'm but like a forfoughen hound,
Has been fighting in a dirty syke.'

29 Then they hae tane him up thro Carlisle town,
And set him by the chimney-fire;
They gave brave Noble a wheat loaf to eat,
And that was little his desire.

30 Then they gave him a wheat loaf to eat
And after that a can o beer;
Then they cried a', wi ae consent,
Eat, brave Noble, and make good cheer!

31 Confess my lord's horse, Hobie, they say,
And the morn in Carlisle thou's no die;
'How shall I confess them?' Hobie says,
'For I never saw them with mine eye.'

32 Then Hobie has sworn a fu great aith,
By the day that he was gotten or born,
He never had onything o my lord's
That either eat him grass or corn.

33 'Now fare thee weel, sweet Mangerton!
For I think again I'll neer thee see;
I wad betray nae lad alive,
For a' the goud in Christentie.

34 'And fare thee well now, Liddisdale,
Baith the hie land and the law!
Keep ye weel frae traitor Mains!
For goud and gear he '11 sell ye a'.

35 'I'd rather be ca'd Hobie Noble,
In Carlisle, where he suffers for his faut,
Before I were ca'd traitor Mains,
That eats and drinks of meal and maut'

a. 94. brother is dead: cf. b. (Dead is death.)

102. For twa drifts of his sheep I gat: corrected in Scott and in the Campbell MS.

154. lee, b lye: corrected to fee in Campbell MS. (ee = awe.)

162. shaft is corrected to sharp in Scott and the Campbell MS.

244. Jersawigham's: cf.b.

b. There is a burden after the first, second, and fourth line, variously given; as, Fa (La, Ta) la didle, Ta la la didle, etc., after the first and second; Fala didle, lal didle, Tal didle, tal diddle, after the fourth.

21,2wanting. 28,4. 15,6in the MS.

23. flee. 24. he is. 31. Then for Now.

52. both with. 53. out a.

63. If they should all have bursen.

64. From. 74. here wanting. 81. Will.

82. we shall. 83. pound. 84. shall.

91. in. 94. brother's dead (death ).

102. For twa drifts of his sheep I gott.

103. not me. 104. me that he can keep.

113. worth other three. 114wanting.

121,2written as 114: The pick and tar was never so dark but I'le guide you over yon hillies high.

123,4wanting. 151. he was that. 153. slooth.

154. little lye. 162. shaft. 163. Gar warn.

171. me the morn.

172. see that it be by the.

173. Corscowthart. 174. ow? 183. beneath.

191. cra: da. 193. not. 19'. either tane.

211. But H.: gates they had been. 213. set.

214. Noble he.

231. lumps for heaps (heaps in 232).

243. Corscothart. 244. Jers a wighams.

251. They have tane now H. N.

252. bow-strings.

253. his heart was never so wae.

261. on for. 272. cuist. 273. Then every.

274. John of. 283. for fouchald.

293. brave wanting: for to. 301wanting.

323. had nothing. 331. now for sweet.

334. Crisenty. 343. And keep.

351. cald now.

354. That eat and drank him a of.

JAMIE TELFER OF THE FAIR DODHEAD

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, I, 80, 1802; II, 3, 1833.

* * *

SCOTT, by whom this ballad was first published, and to whom alone it seems to be known, gives us no information how he came by it. He says, "There is another ballad, under the same title as the following, in which nearly the same incidents are narrated, with little difference except that the honor of rescuing the cattle is attributed to the Liddesdale Elliots, headed by a chief, there called Martin Elliot of the Preakin Tower, whose son, Simon, is said to have fallen in the action. It is very possible that both the Teviotdale Scotts and the Elliots were engaged in the affair, and that each claimed the honor of the victory." Ed. 1833, II. 3.

Scott has suggested that an article in the list of attempts upon England, fouled by the commissioners at Berwick in the year 1587, may relate to the subject of the ballad.

Bewcastle, of which Thomas Musgrave at the above date was deputy and captain, was, says Percy, a great rendezvous of thieves and moss-troopers down to the last century. "It is handed down by report," he remarks, "that there was formerly an Order of Council that no inhabitant of Bewcastle should be returned on a jury." That the deputy of the warden, an officer of the peace, should be exhibited as making a raid, not in the way of retaliation, but simply for plunder, is too much out of rule even for Bewcastle, and does not speak favorably for the antiquity of the ballad.

Taking the story as it stands, the Captain of Bewcastle, who is looking for a prey, is taken by a guide to the Fair Dodhead, which he pillages of kye and everything valuable. Jamie Telfer, whose threat of revenge the Captain treats with derision, runs ten miles afoot to the Elliots of Stobs Hall, to whom he says he has paid mail, st. 11, and asks help. Gib Elliot denies the mail, and tells him to go to the Scotts at Branksome where he has paid it. Telfer keeps on to Coultart Cleugh, and there makes his case known to a brother-in-law, who gives him a mount "to take the fray" to Catslockhill. There William's Wat, who had often eaten of the Dodhead basket, gives him his company and that of two sons, and they take the fray to Branksome. Buccleuch collects a body of men of his name, and sends them out under the command of Willie Scott, who overtakes the marauders, and asks the Captain if he will let Telfer's kye go back. This he will not do for love or for fear. The Scotts set on them; Willie is killed, but two and thirty of the raiders' saddles are emptied, and the Captain is badly wounded and made prisoner. Nor is that all, for the Scotts ride to the Captain's house and loose his cattle, and when they come to the Fair Dodhead, for ten milk kye Jamie Telfer has three and thirty.

Walter Scott of Harden and Water Scott of Goldielands, and, according to Scott of Satchells, Scott of Commonside, st. 26, were engaged with Buccleuch in the rescue of Kinmont Willie. So was Will Elliot of Gorrom-bye, st. 274.

The ballad was retouched for the Border Minstrelsy, nobody can say how much. The 36th stanza is in Hardyknute style. St. 12 is not only found elsewhere (cf. 'Young Beichan,' E 6), but could not be more inappropriately brought in than here; Scott, however, is not responsible for that.

Scott makes the following notes on the localities:

2. Hardhaughswire is the pass from Liddesdale to the head of Teviotdale. Borthwick water is a stream which falls into the Teviot three miles above Hawick. 3. The Dodhead was in Selkirkshire, near Singlee, where there are still the vestiges of an old tower. 7. Stobs Hall: upon Slitterick. 10. Branksome Ha, the ancient family-seat of the lairds of Buccleuch, near Hawick. 13. The Coultart Cleugh is nearly opposite to Carlinrig, on the road between Hawick and Mosspaul. 26. The estates mentioned in this verse belonged to families of the name of Scott residing upon the waters of Borthwick and Teviot, near the castle of their chief. 27. The pursuers seem to have taken the road through the hills of Liddesdale in order to collect forces and intercept the forayers at the passage of the Liddel on their return to Bewcastle. 29. The Frostylee is a brook which joins the Teviot near Mosspaul. 33, 38. The Ritterford and Kershopeford are noted fords on the river Liddel. 36. The Dinlay is a mountain in Liddesdale. 44. Stanegirthside: a house belonging to the Foresters, situated on the English side of the Liddel.

* * *

1 IT fell about the Martinmas tyde,
Whan our Border steeds get corn and hay,
The Captain of Bewcastle hath bound him to ryde,
And he's ower to Tividale to drive a prey.

2 The first ae guide that they met wi,
It was high up in Hardhaughswire;
The second guide that they met wi,
It was laigh down in Borthwick water.

3 'What tidings, what tidings, my trusty guide?'
'Nae tidings, nae tidings, I hae to thee;
But gin ye 'll gae to the Fair Dodhead,
Mony a cow's cauf I'll let thee see.'

4 And when they cam to the Fair Dodhead,
Right hastily they clam the peel;
They loosed the kye out, ane and a',
And ranshakled the house right weel.

5 Now Jamie Telfer's heart was sair,
The tear aye rowing in his ee ;
He pled wi the Captain to hae his gear,
Or else revenged he wad be.

6 The Captain turned him round and leugh;
Said, Man, there's naething in thy house
But ae auld sword without a sheath,
That hardly now wad fell a mouse.

7 The sun was na up, but the moon was down,
It was the gryming of a new-fa'n snaw;
Jamie Telfer has run ten myles a-foot,
Between the Dodhead and the Stobs's Ha.

8 And when he cam to the fair tower-yate,
He shouted loud, and cried weel hie,
Till out bespak auld Gibby Elliot,
'Whae's this that brings the fray to me ?'

9 'It's I, Jamie Telfer o the Fair Dodhead,
And a harried man I think I be;
There's naething left at the Fair Dodhead
But a waefu wife and bairnies three.'

10 'Gae seek your succour at Branksome Ha,
For succour ye'se get nane frae me ;
Gae seek your succour where ye paid blackmail,
For, man, ye neer paid money to me.'

11 Jamie has turned him round about,
I wat the tear blinded his ee:
'I'll neer pay mail to Elliot again,
And the Fair Dodhead I'll never see.

12 'My hounds may a' rin masterless,
My hawks may fly frae tree to tree,
My lord may grip my vassal-lands,
For there again maun I never be!'

13 He has turned him to the Tiviot-side,
Een as fast as he could drie,
Till he cam to the Coultart Cleugh,
And there he shouted baith loud and hie.

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