“Lady Maisry” ( born Lady Maisry , also Janet ; Child 65 , Roud 45 [1] ) is a folk ballad of Scottish descent. Francis James Child in his collection gives eleven of her options. Bertrand Harris Bronson refers to this ballad the later texts under the title “Bonnie Susie Cleland” with a similar plot, however, Robert Waltz believes that in this case there is not folk art, but intentional rewriting [2] [3] .
Ignatius Mikhailovich Ivanovsky translated the ballad into Russian [3] .
Story
The Scottish lady Meysry (in other versions she bears the name of Janet or Marjorie) is surrounded by numerous suitors, but she refuses all of them, explaining that she is engaged to an English lord. This is heard by the kitchen worker, who talks about what he found out to her father. In other cases, her relatives alternately come to the girl, accusing her of profligacy, and she replies that she is carrying a child from an Englishman engaged to her. Maisry’s father (or her brother) is enraged because his daughter (sister) chose all the worthy Scottish husbands as an “English dog” and intends to put her on fire after she refuses to renounce her love. A girl-servant agrees to help the girl, who is in a hurry to tell her missus about what is happening. He rides a horse and runs, crosses a river at a broken bridge and arrives at an English castle. When Lord William (in one of the options this is Prince James) receives bad news, he orders the fastest horses to be saddled and rushes at full speed in order to catch his beloved's rescue. She, already standing at the stake, hears her rescuers and asks to lower the fire. The Lord does not have time in time and, avenging the death of his beloved, puts to fire all her relatives. In some versions, after that he himself rushes into the fire [3] .
The servant's description of the journey is in many ways similar to a similar episode from the ballad “ ” (Child 81). believes this story may be related to the famous folk tale of Rapunzel . The earliest mention of a father’s murder as punishment is probably the story of St. Barbara , a Christian woman who lived the mischief of pagans at the turn of the 3rd and 4th centuries. The plot motives of burning at the stake for disobedience and forbidden love are ubiquitous in folklore [2] [3] .
Notes
- ↑ Vaughan Williams Memorial Library
- ↑ 1 2 Lady Maisry [Child 65] . The Traditional Ballad Index. An annotated source to folk song from the English-speaking world . Robert B. Waltz. Date of treatment January 5, 2017.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 English and Scottish Folk Ballad: Compilation / Comp. L. M. Arinstein. - M: Rainbow, 1988 .-- 512 p. - ISBN 5-05-001852-8 .