"Hind Horn" (
Child
A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...
17,
Roud
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...
br>
28 is a traditional English and Scottish folk
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
.
Synopsis
Hind Horn and the king's daughter Jean fall in love. He gives her a silver wand, and she gives him a diamond ring and tells him when the stones grow pale, he has lost her love. One day, on his travels, he sees it growing pale and sets out for her father's castle. A beggar tells him that the king's daughter is going to
marry
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
, and he persuades him to trade clothing. Hind Horn gets to the castle and begs a cup of wine; when the king's daughter gives it to him, he drops the ring in. She asks where he got it, and he told her she gave it to him. She declares she will throw off her fine clothing and beg with him from town to town, and he tells her that his clothing is only a disguise, she will be a great lady.
It was tradition at the time that any beggar who came to the back door of a house to beg from the bride on a wedding day would receive whatever reasonable thing he asked for.
Variants
The popular ballad contains little more than the climax of a tale that is told at much great length in several manuscripts: the English "
King Horn
''King Horn'' is a Middle English chivalric romance dating back to the middle of the thirteenth century. It survives in three manuscripts: London, British Library, MS. Harley 2253; Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. Laud. Misc 108; and Cambridge, Cambri ...
", the latest parts of which are thirteenth century; the French
romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
, ''Horn et Rymenhild''; and the fourteenth-century "Horn Childe and Maiden Rimnild", also English, but closer to the French version.
It appears to contain a stanza from "
The Whummil Bore".
Several Swedish variants are known, including "Herr Lagman och Herr Thor", from the sixteenth century.
[Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 1, p 194, Dover Publications, New York 1965]
The hero's absence, return, disguised arrival at the wedding feast, and recognition by dropping a ring into the bride's wine cup is a common motif found in both ballads and fairy tales,
such as ''
Soria Moria Castle
Soria Moria Castle (''Soria Moria slott'') is a Norwegian fairy tale made famous by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their classical ''Norske Folkeeventyr''. Later Andrew Lang included the story in his series of fairy tale collection ...
'' and ''
The Raven
"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myste ...
''.
The
magic ring
A magic ring is a mythical, folkloric or fictional piece of jewelry, usually a Ring (jewellery), finger ring, that is purported to have Magic (supernatural), supernatural properties or powers. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. M ...
is also found, with the same properties, in the ballad "
Bonny Bee Hom".
The ballad was published by
William Motherwell
William Motherwell (13 October 1797, Glasgow – 1 November 1835, Glasgow) was a Scottish poet, antiquary and journalist.
Life
Motherwell was born at Glasgow, the son of Willan and Jane Motherwell. His father was an ironmonger. He was se ...
in his ''Minstrelsy: Ancient and Modern'' (Glasgow, 1827). It was collected in US, South England, Scotland, and Canada.
See here
/ref>
Recording
This can be found on Bandoggs (now unobtainable) eponymous LP, and Maddy Prior
Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police dr ...
's 1998 CD ''Flesh & Blood'' and 1999 live ''Ballads & Candles''.
An adapted version can be found on Lissa Schneckenburger's 2008 album ''Song'' entitled ''The Old Beggar Man''.
See also
* Bonny Bee Hom
*List of the Child Ballads
The Child Ballads is the colloquial name given to a collection of 305 ballads collected in the 19th century by Francis James Child
Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, ...
*The Kitchie-Boy
"The Kitchie-Boy" (also known as "Bonny Foot-Boy" or "Earl Richard's Daughter") is Child ballad number 252; Roud number 105.
Synopsis
A lady falls in love with the kitchen boy. She manages to speak with him, but he is afraid that her father wil ...
*Young Beichan
"Young Beichan", also known as "Lord Bateman", "Lord Bakeman", "Lord Baker", "Young Bicham" and "Young Bekie", is a traditional folk ballad categorised as Child ballad 53 and Roud 40. The earliest versions date from the late 18th century, but ...
References
External links
''Hind Horn''
{{Authority control
Child Ballads