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CALIhORMA  I 

SAN  DIEGO    J 


PR 

(92 


ONtV 
CAL 

>AN 


SIMILE  AND  METAPHOR 


IN  THE 


ENGLISH  AND  SCOTTISH  BALLADS 


BY 


GEOEGE  CLINTON  DENSMOKE  ODELL,   A.M. 

COLUMBIA    COLLEGE,   1890       '^ 


DISSERTATION   SUBMITTED   IN  PARTIAL   FULFILMENT   OF   THE    REQUIRE- 
MENTS FOR   THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY  IN 
THE  UNIVERSITY  FACULTY  OF  PHILOSOPHY, 
COLUMBIA   COLLEGE 


NEW  YORK 
1892 


PEEFATOET  NOTE. 


The  edition  of  the  ballads  used  in  the  preparation  of  this 
essay  is  the  well-known  collection  of  Professor  Francis  J.  Child, 
of  Harvard  University.  This  collection,  entitled  "  English  and 
Scottish  Popular  Ballads,"  was  published  in  Boston  in  1857-58, 
and  contains  in  its  eight  generous  volumes  all  the  material 
needed  for  a  paper  of  the  present  scope.  The  early  edition  of 
Professor  Child,  for  various  reasons,  was  used  in  preference  to 
the  new  and  somewhat  larger  edition  which  is  just  completed 
and  which  will  surely  become  the  abiding  monument  of  bal- 
lad literature.  In  the  first  place,  the  new  edition  was  unfin- 
ished until  the  bulk  of  the  essay  was  in  final  form,  and,  more 
important  still,  that  edition  with  its  complicated  system  of  in- 
cluding all  ballads  of  the  same  nature  under  one  general  head 
paved  the  way  to  certain  difiiculties  which,  in  the  matter  of 
reference,  would  inevitably  lead  to  confusion.  In  view  of  this 
fact,  it  seemed  permissible  to  use  the  older  yet  by  no  means 
unsatisfactory  edition  of  1857-58.  The  ballads  in  this  early 
collection  taken  from  Percy's  Reliques,  I  have  carefully  col- 
lated with  the  reprint  of  the  Percy  Folio  MS.,  and  none  of  the 
learned  bishop's  interpolations  have  been  allowed  to  stand 
among  the  figures  quoted  in  the  essay.  The  titles  of  the  bal- 
lads mentioned  in  the  text  that  follows,  except  in  the  few  cases 
where  specific  reference  is  made  to  the  Percy  Folio  MS.,  are 
given  as  they  occur  in  the  older  Child  edition,  and  the  figures 
appended  to  the  title  in  each  instance  refer,  respectively,  to  the 
line  of  the  poem,  and  tlie  volume  and  the  page  of  that  edition. 

The  various  ballad  collections  of  Percy,  Ritson,  Scott,  Moth- 
erwell, Aytoun,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  numerous  magazine  articles 
on  this  favourite  topic  have  been  examined,  and  whatever  could 


4  PREFATORY   NOTE. 

throw  light  on  puzzling  questions  has  been  freely  borrowed 
from  such  sources.  The  indebtedness  will  be  so  very  apparent 
to  all  lovers  of  poetry  that  it  may  pass  with  the  acknowledg- 
ment here  given  ;  for  without  the  labours  of  these  patient  col- 
lectors, English  literature  would  still  lack  what  has  proved  to 
be  one  of  its  most  interesting  and  fruitful  branches. 


SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 


IN  THE 


ENGLISH  AND  SCOTTISH  BALLADS. 


THE  PUEPOSE  OF  THE  ESSAY. 

The  amount  of  criticism  that  has  been  bestowed  on  the  Eng- 
hsh  and  Scotch  popular  songs  is  already  so  great  that  some 
apology  seems  necessary  by  way  of  prelude  to  a  new  essay. 
These  songs  have  been  treated  in  many  ways  and  from  many 
points  of  view.  Critics  have  disputed  concerning  their  origin, 
and  antiquarians  have  battled  over  the  question  of  their  age ; 
students  of  language  have  broken  lances  over  the  authenticity 
of  particular  ballads,  and  riming  dilettanti  have  blandly  de- 
ceived the  world  with  the  product  of  their  own  brains.  All 
these  questions,  however,  have  now  been  settled  as  definitely 
as  the  somewhat  uncertain  nature  of  the  evidence  will  allow,. 
and  it  remains  for  the  future  writer  to  glean  his  harvest  from 
new  or  half -neglected  fields.  The  ballads  are  always  fresh,  but 
much  of  the  ballad  discussion  is  already  dry  to  the  taste. 

While  various  attempts  have  been  made  to  define  the  true 
ballad  style,  it  has  occurred  to  no  one,  apparently,  to  appeal  to 
the  trial  by  figure.  In  other  words,  no  effort  has  been  put 
forth  to  show  what  figures  are  most  common  in  the  popular 
verse  and  what  figures,  therefore,  were,  and  are,  most  intelligi- 
ble to  the  popular  mind  and  most  beloved  of  the  popular  heart. 
This  question  seems  to  throw  open  a  most  fruitful  field  of  in- 
quiry, and  to  it  the  following  pages  owe  their  origin.  The  re- 
sults of  such  an  investigation,  far  from  being  meagre,  as  might 
be  surmised,  are  singularly  rich  and  convincing,  and  they  are 


6  .       SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

given  here  in  the  hope  that  thej  may  stimulate  further  study 
in  tlie  same  direction. 

The  object  in  so  dealing  with  ballad  literature  must  be  evi^ 
dent  to  all ;  for  if  the  figures  found  in  these  songs  are  suffi- 
ciently alike  to  be  placed  in  one  general  group,  two  things  will 
be  proved  most  conclusively.  In  the  first  place  we  shall  see  by 
what  means  the  British  mind,  unaided,  perhaps,  or  it  may  be 
from  inherited  Indo-Gerraanic  tradition,  has  worked  its  way  to 
the  utilising  of  resemblances  as  helps  to  thought ;  and  in  the 
second  place,  we  will  have  a  clue  to  the  authenticity  of  any 
ballad,  intangible  to  the  novice,  yet  to  the  student  unanswerable 
as  any  proof  that  may  be  brought  forward.  For  if  the  popular 
mind  uses  one  kind  of  figure,  and  an  alleged  popular  song  one 
that  is  radically  different,  we  shall  have  reason  to  doubt  the 
genuineness  of  the  song.  It  is  the  object  of  this  essay,  by  sup- 
plying a  firm  and  substantial  groundwork  for  such  study,  to 
farther  investigation  on  similar  lines  in  the  English,  and  thence 
perhaps  in  the  ballad  literature  of  other  nations. 


THE  OEIGIN  AND  NATUEE  OF  BALLAD  LITERATUEE. 

The  reason  for  the  foregoing  statements  will  appear  after  a 
brief  outline  of  the  history  of  the  ballad.  It  will  be  seen  that 
this  essay,  dealing  with  only  one  branch — and  that  a  limited 
one — of  the  ballad  question,  is  but  remotely  concerned  with 
the  origin  of  the  songs  ;  yet  some  idea  of  the  ballads  themselves 
seems  not  only  desirable,  but  essential,  for  a  complete  under- 
standing of  the  subject.  From  the  time  when  in  1765,  Percy 
published  his  "Reliques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry,"  the  amount 
of  writing  on  the  characteristics  of  these  homely  productions 
has  been  enormous,  and  in  many  cases,  highly  instructive.  At 
any  rate,  it  has  been  edifying  to  the  writers  themselves,  and 
has  served  to  arouse  and  hold  public  interest  to  a  degree  little 
short  of  phenomenal. 

The  ballads  of  a  country  may  be  described,  briefly,  as  the 
unpremeditated  outpouring  of  the  national  heart.  They  put 
into  convenient  phrase  the  popular  idea  of  life  in  its  various 


IZSr   THE   EISTGLISH   A'NB   SCOTTISH   BAJ.LADS.  7 

relations.  For  the  sake  of  emphasis,  the  idea  is  moulded  in 
the  form  of  a  story ;  as  in  all  true  poetry,  it  is  the  concrete  ex- 
pression of  what  in  the  abstract  would  be  unintelligible  to  the 
popular  mind.  Hence,  instead  of  inculcating  lessons  in  virtue, 
the  ballad  relates  a  harrowing  tale  of  the  consequences  of  vice. 
This  much  at  least  may  be  confidently  afiirmed  :  a  ballad,  who- 
ever its  author  may  be,  must  reflect  the  life  and  thought  of  the 
time  and  place  ;  otherwise,  it  ceases  to  be  a  ballad,  and,  what- 
ever its  merits,  is  but  the  work  of  an  individual,  striving  to 
express  his  own  views  on  the  world  about  him.  The  true  bal- 
ladist,  in  other  words,  merges  his  identity  in  the  mass  of  the 
people,  and  becomes,  as  it  were,  but  the  mouthpiece  of  his 
generation.  The  authorship  of  a  ballad  is,  in  this  sense,  as 
completely  national  as  if  it  were  a  mosaic  in  words,  every  ele- 
ment of  which  has  come  from  a  different  source  in  what  we  are 
pleased  to  call,  collectively,  the  popular  intelligence. 

Concerning  the  origin  of  the  ballads,  various  theories  are 
maintained.  Percy  in  his  admirable  essay  prefixed  to  the 
Reliques,  gives  the  minstrels  as  the  authors  of  the  popular 
song.  "  The  minstrels,"  he  affirms,  "  were  an  order  of  men  in 
the  middle  ages,  who  subsisted  by  the  arts  of  poetry  and  music 
and  sang  to  the  harp  verses  composed  by  themselves.  They 
also  appear  to  have  accompanied  their  songs  with  mimicry  and 
action  ;  and  to  have  practised  such  various  means  of  diverting 
as  were  much  admired  in  those  rude  times,  and  supplied  the 
want  of  more  refined  entertainment."  This  passage  was  vio- 
lently criticised  by  Ritson,  who  sought  to  degrade  the  minstrel 
profession  as  much  as  Percy  had  laboured  to  elevate  it ;  and 
Percy,  "  wedded  to  no  hypothesis,"  changed,  in  the  fourth  edi- 
tion of  his  work,  the  disputed  sentence  to  "  composed  by  them- 
selves or  othersP 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  authorship  of  the  old  ballads, 
they  seem  certainly  to  have  been  sung  in  very  early  times  by 
the  gleemen — afterwards  minstrels.  Anglo-Saxon  poetry,  to 
which  Percy  and  Ritson  seem  to  have  made  no  recourse,  proves 
the  existence  of  minstrels  from  the  beginning  of  what  may  be 
called  English  liistory  in  England.  At  any  rate,  Mr.  Aytoun, 
one  of  the  latest  and  best  critics  in  this  field,  regards  the  bal- 


8  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

lads  as  the  work  of  Ritson's  despised  minstrels.  Speaking  of 
the  ballads,  "  their  number,"  he  says,  "  as  we  have  them  now, 
without  attempting  to  estimate  the  many  which  must  have  dis- 
appeared in  the  course  of  time,  is  a  clear  proof  that  they  were 
not  composed  casually  or  from  the  caprice  of  writers,  but  were 
the  production  of  minstrels,  who  in  remoter  times,  followed  their 
craft  as  a  regular  profession  or  means  of  livelihood.  .  .  . 
At  the  courts  of  our  earlier  Scottish  kings,  and  at  the  mansions 
of  the  principal  nobility  .  .  .  minstrelsy  was  a  favourite 
pastime.  .  .  .  And  the  minstrel,  wherever  he  went,  be  it  to 
castle  or  cottage,  received  a  ready  or  most  hospitable  wel- 
come." ^     His  song,  besides,  paid  for  food  and  lodging. 

And  again : 

"  I  tender  them  [the  foregoing  remarks]  as  an  explanation  of 
the  origin  of  the  ballads,  which  I  do  not  regard  as  mere  casual 
compositions,  dictated  by  the  fancy  of  individuals  who  had  a 
natural  taste  for  poetry,  or  an  ambition  for  making  themselves 
known  as  men  of  superior  capacity  in  a  small  or  obscure  circle^ 
but  as  j)rofessio7ial  works,  undertaken  both  for  livelihood  and 
fame,  which  must  ever  have  some  connection."  * 

After  the  degradation  of  the  minstrels  from  their  high  posi- 
tion, which  happened,  no  doubt,  toward  tlie  close  of  the  age  of 
chivalry,  these  guardians  of  the  ancient  song  travelled  from 
place  to  place,  each  probably  having  his  own  circuit,  singing 
and  amusing  the  common  people  with  their  lays.  Mr.  Dixon, 
in  his  valuable  prefaces,  writes  of  the  last  of  these  minstrels 
still  lingering  (1845-1846)  in  the  north  of  England  and  in 
Scotland.  Their  songs  were  handed  down  from  age  to  age  and 
])ecame  the  most  precious  possession  of  the  people.  Sung  in 
these  times  to  the  rude  and  wondering  peasantry,  it  was  by  the 
peasantry,  after  the  race  of  minstrels  became  almost  extinct, 
that  the  songs  were  preserved  for  many  years,  and  it  is,  in  fact, 
due  to  the  labours  of  antiquarians  like  Scott  and  Motherwell, 
in  gathering  these  remains  of  minstrelsy  from  the  recitation  of 
often  ignorant  peasants,  that  we  owe  the  imposing  array  of 
ballad  poetry  that  to-day  enriches  English  literature.  The  bal- 
lads taken  down  from  the  recitation  of  Mrs.  Brown  of  Falk- 
*  Introduction  to  The  Ballads  of  Scotland. 


11!^   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  9 

land  are  among  the  finest  specimens  of  popular  song  extant  in 
any  language  ;  not  that  this  lady,  however,  is  to  be  classed 
among  the  ignorant  reciters  above  mentioned. 

So  much  may  be  said  for  the  origin  of  the  ballads.  They 
have  been  preserved  by  oral  tradition,  and  such  changes  as  have 
occurred  are  verbal,  and  consist  of  the  substitution  of  modern 
for  archaic  phraseology.  Maintaining  such  a  fight  against 
oblivion,  never  printed,  indeed  regarded,  frequently,  as  the 
property  of  individual  minstrels,*  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
handling  of  illiterate  bards  and  the  crooning  of  old  women  on 
the  hillside  and  by  the  fireside  have  tended  to  mutilate  the 
original  form  of  the  poems.  Hence  arise  the  different  versions 
of  particular  songs,  the  best  possible  proof  of  their  authenticity. 

The  day  of  popular  song,  however,  is  past ;  the  printing 
press  sounded  its  death-knell.  "The  process  of  national  ballad 
growing  and  ballad  preserving  can  only  go  on  while  those  con- 
cerned in  the  process  are  unconscious  of  the  presence  of  an 
outer  world  with  an  eye  fixed  upon  it.  The  moment  it  is  dis- 
covered, and  public  attention  drawn  to  it,  it  stops.  .  .  . 
The  time  will  shortly  be,  if  it  has  not  yet  come,  when  the  oldest 
woman  in  the  country  will  only  be  able  to  repeat  to  you  '  Gil 
Morice  '  or  '  Sir  Patrick  Spens '  from  some  printed  version."  f 

And  yet,  though  the  authorship  is  national,  if  the  phrase 
may  be  allowed,  although,  as  the  same  learned  critic  f  asserts, 
"  it  knows  no  authorship  but  that  of  the  country  at  large," 
and  is  "  truly  autochthonous,"  the  stories  will  often  be  found 
to  be  of  almost  Indo-Germanic  currency.  To  cite  one  instance 
alone,  Professor  Child  traces  the  well-known  ballad  M'hose 
numerous  versions  he  classes  under  the  title  of  "  Lad}'  Isabel 
and  the  Elf-Knight,"  to  English,  Dutch,  Danish,  Swedish, 
jSTorwegian,  German,  Polish,  French,  Italian,  Spanish,  Portu- 
guese, and  Magyar  relationship  :  surely,  a  sufficiently  imposing 
array  of  connexions  for  any  ballad. 

Enouo-h  has  been  said  to  shew  that  these  songs  arose  from 
the  people,  for  the  people,  and  were  preserved  lovingly  and 
carefully,  by  the  people. 

*  Aytoun,  Introduction  to  The  Ballads  of  Scotland,  4th  Ed. ,  p.  xliii. 
I  Blackwood,  page  405,  Oct.,  1858. 


10  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

Of  the  nature  of  the  ballads,  one  mav  write  with  more 
certainty.     They  may  be  divided  roughly  under  four  heads : 

(1.)  Historical   Ballads — dealing   with   national   warfare   or 

private  feud ; 
(2.)  Ballads  of  the  Affections — including  poems  of  love  and 

sorrow  ; 
(3.)  Ballads  of  Superstition — including  those  that  deal  with 

ghosts  and  fairy-lore  ;  and 
(4.)  Humorous  Ballads — on   particular   political   crises,  and 

also  including  a  number  of  popular  riddles. 

The  ballads  that  are  unquestionably  genuine  show  the  same 
traits  of  simplicity  and  directness.  They  begin  immediately 
on  the  story,  without  a  word  of  introduction,  as  in  "  Sir  Patrick 
Spens," 

"  The  King  sits  in  Dunfermline  toun, 
Drinking  the  blude-red  wine  ; 
'  0  whaur  shall  I  get  a  skeely  skipper, 
To  sail  this  ship  of  mine  ?  '  " 

The  language  is  plain  and  to  the  point,  but  full  of  homely 
strength  and  pathos ;  as  Motherwell  says,  "  there  is  no  pause 
made  on  the  way  for  beautiful  images  or  appropriate  illustra- 
tions. If  these  come  naturally  and  unavoidably,  good  and 
well,  but  there  is  no  loitering  and  winding  about,  as  if  unwill- 
ing to  move  on  till  these  should  suggest  themselves  .  .  . 
and  rhetorical  embellishments  are  equally  unknown."  The 
truth  or  falsehood  of  this  statement  will,  it  is  hoped,  appear  in 
the  forthcoming  discussion. 

The  pathos  of  "  The  Douglas  Tragedy "  is,  for  the  mo- 
ment, a  sufficient  verification.  As  is  usual  in  the  ballads,  the 
knight  and  lady,  in  this  particular  song,  elope,  pursued  by  the 
damsel's  father  and  seven  brothers.  The  knight  kills  all,  like 
a  doughty  lover  of  old. 

O  she's  ta'en  out  her  handkerchief, 

It  was  o'  the  hoUand  sae  fine, 
And  aye  she  dighted  her  father's  bloody  wounds, 

That  were  redder  than  the  wine. 


IlSr   THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS,  11 

"  0  chuse,  O  chuse,  Lady  Marg'ret,"  he  said, 

"  O  whether  will  ye  gang  or  bide  ?  " 
"  I'll  gang,  111  gang,  Lord  William,"  she  said, 

"  For  ye  have  left  me  no  other  guide." 

0  they  rade  on  and  on  they  rade, 

And  a'  by  the  light  of  the  moon. 
Until  they  came  to  you  wan  water. 

And  there  they  lighted  down. 

They  lighted  down  to  tak  a  drink 

Of  the  water  that  ran  so  clear ; 
And  down  the  stream  ran  his  gude  heart's  blood, 

And  sair  she  gan  to  fear. 

"  Hold  up,  hold  up,  Lord  William,"  she  says, 

"  For  I  fear  that  you  are  slain  !  " 
"  'Tis  nothing  but  the  shadow  of  my  scarlet  cloak, 

That  shines  in  the  water  so  plain." 

And  so  on.     The  same  quality  runs  through  all. 

As  might  be  expected  from  their  origin,  the  poems  are  fre- 
quently full  of  metrical  anomalies  ;  but  of  the  charm  of  the 
style  there  can  be  no  question.  As  they  are  of  popular  pro- 
duction, we  will  look  in  them  for  no  elaborate  finish  of  diction, 
and  no  such  exalted  flights  of  sentiment  as  distinguish  the  verse 
of  schooled  poets  ;  but  by  way  of  compensation,  we  will  find 
in  these  "  barbarous  productions  of  unpolished  ages,''  *  a 
strength  and  vigour  that  more  "  polished  "  performances  often 
lack. 

One  thing  more  must  be  noted  in  the  discussion  of  the  char- 
acter of  these  poems.  The  formulaic  or  commonplace  lines  are 
remarkably  numerous  throughout  the  ballad  literature,  and  seem 
to  have  been  the  common  property  of  the  bards.  Whether 
used  as  helps  to  memory,  or  as  stimulant  of  pleasure  for  the 
auditor,  they  are  uniquely  prevalent  in  the  popular  song. 
Readers  of  Ilomer  know  the  charm  that  comes  from  the  recur- 
rence of  his  formulaic  lines,  and  the  more  limited  body  of 
Anglo-Saxon  students  will  remember  the  formulaic  epithets  and 
lines  in  the  Beowulf  and  the  poems  of  Cj^newulf,  a  model  to 
which  Tennyson  may  have  gone  for  the  beautiful  repetitions 
that  accent  the  loveliness  of  the  "  Idylls." 

*  See  Percy,  Dedication  to  first  edition  of  the  Keliques. 


12  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

These  repetitions  in  the  ballads  are  found  in  the  use  of  stock 
epithets  for  certain  things.  Thus  nearly  every  horse  is  "  milk- 
white,"  a  quality  pertaining,  likewise,  to  every  lady's  hand  that 
is  not  "  lily  "  or  "  lilly  "  or  "  lillye,"  as  the  case  may  be.  The 
sword  is  "  berry-brown,"  and  the  greenwood  is  ever  "  merry." 

In  addition,  whole  stanzas  are  repeated  by  different  poets, 
with  more  freedom,  even,  than  Greek  commonplaces  by  the 
Attic  orators.  Mr.  Motherwell  notes  the  commonplace  of  the 
burial  of  two  lovers : 

Lord  William  was  buried  in  St.  Marie's  Kirk, 

Lady  Mai-g'ret  in  the  quire  ; 
Out  of  the  lady's  grave  grew  a  bonny  red  rose, 

And  out  o'  the  Knight's  a  brier. 

And  they  twa  met,  and  they  twa  plat, 

And  fain  they  wad  be  near  ; 
And  a'  the  warld  might  ken  right  weel, 

They  were  twa  lovers  dear. 

The  little  boy  that  runs  errands  is  also  invariably  described 

in  one  way  : 

And  when  he  came  to  the  broken  brigg, 

He  bent  his  bow  and  swam ; 
And  when  he  came  to  the  grass  growing, 
Set  down  his  feet  and  ran,  etc. 

Another  remarkable  case  is  that  of  the  man  in  haste  : 

"  Go  saddle  to  me  the  black, 
Go  saddle  to  me  the  brown. 
Go  saddle  to  me  the  swiftest  steed 
That  e'er  rade  frae  the  town." 

The  ballads  charm  by  their  simplicity ;  compared  with  the 
artificial  poetry  of  the  age  of  Percy — the  remains  of  the  Pope 
school — they  are  marvels  of  poetic  spirit,  and  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  in  revolt  against  that  artificiality,  the  Peliques 
should  have  been  taken  up  with  an  eagerness  that  may  strike 
some  to-day  as  marvellous.  They  brought  back  the  true  song, 
and  have  had  an  effect  on  our  latter-day  poetry.  The  danger 
seems  to  be  in  estimating  them  above  their  value ;  poetic  beau- 
ties they  have  of  high  order,  but  poetic  grace  and  finish  they 


IlSr  THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  13 

lack  in  large  degree.  A  sure  insight  will  enable  ns  to  place 
these  ballads  in  true  perspective  in  English  literature,  and  en- 
joy them  none  the  less  because  the}^  are  overshadowed  by  the 
productions  of  "  clerkly  writers,"  singing  for  fame  as  well  as 
for  money. 

ON  FIGURES  IN  GENEEAL  IN  THE  BALLADS. 

The  ballads,  then,  being  the  artless  expression  of  national 
popular  feeling,  we  will  scarcely  look  in  them  for  the  figures 
that  corae  from  deep  observation  of  men  and  the  world.  Such 
figures  as  occur  are  generally  of  the  most  obvious  kind,  and  are 
used  rather  for  description  than  for  ornament.  They  spring 
naturally  and  inevitably  from  the  subject,  as  Motherwell  says, 
and  are  seldom  elaborated  beyond  the  physical  limit  of  a  single 
line.  The  descriptive  epithets  milk-iohite,  coal-Maclc,  grass- 
green^  etc.,  occur  more  frequently  than  any  other  figure,  though 
it  is  doubtless  true  that  these  expressions  had  lost  tlien,  as  now, 
all  suggestion  of  comparison  by  simile,  and  were  probably  re- 
garded simply  as  adjectives  of  colour.  Such  as  they  are  they 
are  found  with  amazing  frequency  in  the  ballads,  onilk-iohite 
alone  being  used  more  than  sixty  times  in  the  eight  volumes  of 
Professor  Child's  Collection  of  Ballads.  The  longer  similes  and 
metaphors  are  equally  on  the  surface.  As  hlythe  as  bird  on 
tree,  as  swift  as  the  %oind,  etc.,  similes  to-day  in  common  use, 
are  the  most  usual  of  those  in  the  ballads,  and  no  better  proof 
of  the  popular  origin  of  these  poems  could  be  urged,  than  the 
ver}'  frequency  in  them  of  such  hackneyed  expressions.  Of 
course  these  are  the  simplest  figures  found. 

In  addition,  personification  plays  an  important  part,  and  the 
raging  sea,  fortune^  s  smiles,  a,i\d  dame  fortune  unkind,  a.ve  as 
frequently  in  evidence  in  these  songs,  as  in  the  writings  of  a 
penny-a-liner.  Metonymy,  too,  is  common.  The  merry  green- 
wood, dizzy  crag,  etc.,  will  be  noted  in  tlieir  proper  places. 

Beyond  these  more  ordinary  figures  of  thought — tropes,  to 
keep  the  old  word — it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  essay  to  go. 
The  more  usual  forms  of  rhetorical  figures  of  style  and  ar- 
rangement— balance,    antithesis,  chiasmus,  etc. — are   occasion- 


14  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

ally  met  with,  more  or  less  perfect  in  form,  but  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  origin  of  these  songs,  it  will  readily  be  seen  how 
impossible  it  was  for  the  finer  beauties  of  style  to  abound  in 
them  or  even  to  be  cultivated  beyond  the  merest  chance  or  the 
most  naive  endeavour. 

But  this  is  not  all,  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  it  is  the 
greater  part.  Figures  of  the  foregoing  simplicity  are,  indeed, 
the  rule  in  the  ballads,  but  occasionally  the  reader  meets  with 
flashes  of  imagination  that  surprise  him  by  their  brilliancy. 
These  figures  generally  spring  from  resemblances  to  nature. 
A  striking  simile  in  "  The  Marriage  of  Sir  Gawaine  "  is 

I  am  glad  as  grasse  wold  be  of  raine, 

and  in  "  Andrew  Lammie," 

Her  iloom  was  like  the  springing  flower, 
That  salutes  the  rosy  morning. 

Again,  a  strong  bit  from  the  "  Gay  Goshawk  "  is  worth  repeat- 
ing for  its  unusual  length  : 

The  thing  of  my  love's  face  that's  white 

Is  that  of  dove  or  maw ; 
The  thing  of  my  love's  face  that's  red, 

Is  like  blood  shed  on  snaw. 

Figures  drawn  from  the  contemplation  of  man  as  a  moral 
and  intellectual  agent  are  rare.  We  find  the  adjectives  j9/*mc^Z?/, 
royal,  etc.,  but  we  do  not  get  into  the  heart  of  man.  Such 
similes  as  Coleridge's  (in  "The  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner") 

Like  one  that  on  a  lonesome  road 
Doth  walk  in  fear  and  dread,  etc. 

are  never  found  in  the  ballads,  and  the  employment  of  such  a 
comparison  by  Coleridge  marks  his  departure  from  the  true  bal- 
lad style,  which  he  successfully  hits  in  red  as  a  rose  is  she,  and 
in  other  places.  The  simile  beginning  liJce  one  that  on  a  lone- 
some road,  is  singularly  beautiful,  too  beautiful  by  far  for  the 


IN  THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS. 


15 


apprehension  or  production  of  a  popular  poet.  It  may  be  good 
art,  but  it  is  not  good  ballad  writing. 

Enouo;h  has  been  said  to  shew  the  ojeneral  nature  of  the  bal- 
lad  figures  ;  they  will  now  be  taken  up  in  detail. 

We  may  well  close  this  preliminary  discussion  by  bringing 
up  a  parallel  from  two  poems  on  the  same  subject — one  the 
ballad  from  Percy  known  as  "  King  Arthur's  Death,"  the 
other,  Tennyson's  noble  "  Passing  of  Arthur."  l^o  amount  of 
critical  writing  could  so  aptly  prove  the  difference  between  un- 
trained art  and  the  art  that  springs  from  the  highest  poetical 
gifts.  In  citing  these  instances,  however,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  "  King  Arthur's  Death  "  is  not  one  of  the  best  of 
the  ballads,  being  inferior  in  every  way  to  such  pieces  as  "  Cos- 
patrick,"  "  Gil  Morice,"  or  many  others  that  could  be  men- 
tioned ;  it  must  be  remembered,  also,  that  Tennyson  is  not  a 
representative  poet,  since  he  is  too  great,  too  striking  to  be 
compared  with  any  but  himself.  If,  therefore,  we  bear  these 
facts  in  mind,  we  will  not  be  misled  by  the  parallel.  The 
scene  is  that  nis-ht-vision  of  Arthur's  before  the  last  irreat  bat- 
tie  with  Modred.  The  ballad  is  quoted  from  the  Percy  Folio 
MS.,  without  Percy's  emendations,  and  there  and  in  Tennyson, 
it  reads  as  follows  : 


King  Arthur's  Death. 

But  vpon  Sunday  in  the  eueningthen, 
when  the  King  in  his  bedd  did  Lye, 

he  thought  Sir  Gawaine  to  him  came, 
&  thus  to  him  did  say  : 

"  Now  as  you  are  my  vnkle  deere, 
I  pray  you  be  ruled  by  mee, 

do  not  fight  as  to-morrow  day 

but  put  the  battelle  of  if  you  may  ; 

for  Sir  Lancelott  is  now  in  franco, 
&  many  Knights  with  him  full  har- 
<iye, 

&  with-in  this  Month  here  hee  wilbe 
great  aide  wilbe  to  thee." 


The  Passing  of  Arthur. 

Then  ere  that  last  weird  battle  in  the 

west, 
There  came  on  Arthur  sleeping,  Ga- 

wain  kill'd 
In  Lancelot's  war,  the  ghost  of  Gawain 

blown 
Along  a  wandering  wind,  and  past  his 

ear 
Went  shrilling  :  ' '  Hollow,  hollow  all 

delight. 
Hail,    King !    To-morrow   thou   shalt 

pass  away. 
Farewell !  there  is  an  isle  of  rest  for 

thee  : 
And  I  am  blown  along  a  wandering 

wind, 


16 


SIMILE  AND  METAPHOR 


he  wakened  forth  of  his  dreemes  :  And  hollow,  hollow,  hollow  all  delight." 

to  his  nobles  that  told  hee,  And  fainter  onward,  like  wild  birds 

how  he  thought  Sir  Gawaiue  to  him  that  change 

came,  Their  season  in  the  night   and  wail 

&  these  words  sayd  Certainly.  their  way 

From  cloud  to  cloud,  down  the  long 

wind  the  dream 
Shrill'd  ;   but  in  going  mingled  with 

dim  cries 
Far  in  the  moonlit  haze  among  the 

hills, 
As  of  some  lonely  city  sack'd  by  night, 
When  all  is  lost,  and  wife  and  child 

with  wail 
Pass  to  new  lords  ;  and  Arthur  woke 

and  call'd 
"  Who  spake  ?  A  dream.    O  light  upon 

the  wind, 
Thine,   Gawain,   was   the   voice — are 

these  dim  cries 
Thine?  or   doth  all  that  haunts  the 

waste  and  wild 
Mourn,  knowing  it  will  go  along  with 
me?" 

There,  in  brief,  is  the  difference,  as  respects  figure  and  every 
poetical  grace,  except,  at  times,  "  high  seriousness,"  between 
ballads  and  the  "  productions  of  clerks  in  closet." 

Writing  like  this  of  Tennyson's  is  apt  to  lift  you  from  your 
critical  feet  in  a  high  gale  of  enthusiasm  ;  the  ballad  literature 
at  its  best  leaves  the  ear  sensitive  to  metrical  faults,  even  while 
it  moves  the  heart  with  unexpected  feeling. 


THE  DWISION   OF  THE   SUBJECT, 

For  practical  purposes  the  following  division  of  the  subject 
may  be  made : 

Simile  and  Metaphor — subdivided  into  three  classes: 
A.  Figures  of  Resemblance  drawn  from  the  Domain  of 

Kature. 
Jj.  Fissures  of  Resemblance  drawn  from  Animals  and  their 

Characteristics. 


IN   THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  17 

C.  Figures   of  Resemblance  drawn   from   Man   and   his 
Habits. 
Metonymy  and  Personification — briefly  considered. 

A. 

Simile  and   Metaphor   Drawn  feom  the    Domain  of 

Nature. 

As  in  the  case  of  all  true  poets,  the  main  source  of  inspira- 
tion for  the  balladists  is  in  the  Koa^io'^  or  ordered  creation 
about  them.  Man  in  his  various  relations  to  the  world  and  to 
his  destiny  is  their  theme ;  but  man  cannot  be  viewed  apart 
from  his  environment,  especially  his  physical  environment. 
Hence  the  repeated  allusion,  though  never  so  brief,  to  the 
scene  of  the  ballad-story ;  and  hence  the  source  of  the  greater 
number  of  the  figures  that  explain,  not  adorn,  the  ballad 
narratives.  The  old  minstrels  saw  the  world,  that  it  was  fair  ; 
that  on  happy  days  the  sky  was  clear,  that  the  sun  shed  a 
golden  haze,  that  the  grass  was  green,  and  that  in  the  spread- 
ing trees,  birds  sang  the  morning  hours  away.  Little  more 
than  this  appealed  to  these  crude  poets.  Doubtless  the  sun 
sometimes  failed  to  appear  and  the  grass  was  sodden  with 
rain,  but  for  all  poetical  purposes,  the  minstrels  chose  as  far  as 
possible  to  ignore  the  fact.  Therefore,  though  the  rain  falls, 
we  are  for  the  most  part  conscious  from  our  ballad-reading, 
that  the  sun  shines  more  than  half  the  year.  In  the  Robin 
Hood  stories,  for  instance,  storm  seldom  comes  to  the  merry 
greenwood,  and  the  outlaw  and  his  band  stand  out  against  a 
background  of  perfect  weather. 

Brilliancy  of  imagery  and  wealth  of  colour,  in  fact,  every- 
where abound  in  the  ballads.  This  brightness  is  one  of  the 
most  conspicuous  features  even  of  the  saddest  history.  A  large 
number,  then,  of  the  similes  and  metaphors  in  the  popular  song 
is  suggested  by  this  aspect  of  the  English  landscape,  clad  in  its 
summer  garb  of  green  boughs  and  green  fields  under  dazzling 
skies.  And  yet  the  figures  drawn  therefrom  admit  of  division 
into  various  groups,  according  as  they  arise  from  one  or 
2 


18  SIMILE   AND   METAPIIOK 

another  aspect  of  tliis  glad  world.  It  is  permissible,  therefore, 
to  employ  the  following  arrangement  of  the  figures  of  re- 
semblance drawn  from  nature. 

I.  Figures  drawn  from  the  Physical  World  of  the  Wind, 
Rocks,  Water,  the  Heavens,  etc. 

II.  Figures  drawn  from  the  Plant  World. 

III.  Figures  involving  Colour. 

IV.  Figures  drawn  from  the  Mineral  Kingdom. 

Y.  Figures  drawn  from  the  Characteristics  of  Fire. 
These  divisions  will  naturally  encroach  on  one  another,  and 
blend  together,  but  care  will  be  taken  to  keep  them  as  distinct 
as  possible. 

I. 

Similes  and  Metaphors  from  the  Physical  Aspect  of  Nature. 

Though  the  bright  sun  and  the  fair  sky  are  most  prominent 
in  the  poems,  yet  the  irresistible  forces  of  nature  seem,  under 
this  head,  to  have  been  a  great  source  of  imaginative  compa- 
rison to  the  popular  poet.  Chief  among  these  forces  is  that  of 
tlie  invisible  but  mighty  wind.  This  is  a  fruitful  theme  for 
the  untrained,  as  for  the  trained  imagination.  Let  us  instance 
the  figures  thence  derived,  to  be  found  throughout  the  ballads  : 

In  Thomas  the  Pliymer,  32  (Yol.  i,  page  110)  we  find 

The  steed  flew  swifter  than  the  wind  ; 

and  again,  34, 

The  steed  gaed  swifter  than  the  wind. 
Many  similar  cases  occur  elsewhere  : 

They  passed  as  swift  as  any  wind. 

—The  Suffolk  Miracle,  50  (i,  280) ; 

He  amblit  like  the  wind. 

— Lord  Thomas  and  Fair  Annet,  62  (ii,  128)  ; 

The  horse  zoung  Waters  rade  npon 
Was  fleeter  than  the  wind. 

—  Tou7ig  Waters,  15-16  (iii,  89) ; 


ITf   THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  19 

As  swift  as  the  wind  to  ride  they  were  seen. 
— The  Blind  Beggars  Daughter  of  Bednall  Oreen,  93  (iv,  16G)  ; 

Y  schall  her  sende  a  wheyt  palfPrey, 
Het  hambellet  as  the  weynde. 

—Robin  Hood  and  the  Potter,  287-288  (v,  31). 

A  more  extended  simile  is  found  in 

"  Sweevens  are  swift,  master,"  quoth  John, 
"  As  the  wind  that  blowes  ore  a  hill  ; 
For  if  it  be  never  so  loud  this  night, 
To-morrow  it  may  be  still." 

—Robin  Hood  and  Guy  of  Qishorne,  17-20  (v,  160). 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  this  simile,  at  least, 
belongs  by  right  of  inheritance  to  the  English  ballad.  Then, 
again,  the  man  is  compared  once,  morally,  to  variable  winds  or 
"  kittle-flaws  "  in 

The  Gordons  they  are  kittle-flaws. 

—Huntley's  Retreat,  105  (vii,  273). 

The  wind  "  hambellet  "  and  is,  therefore,  a  symbol  of  swift- 
ness or  of  change  and  instability,  but  the  stones  and  the 
rocks  and  mountains  remain  forever  the  same,  teaching  their 
lesson  to  men.  The  cruelty  of  rocks — their  unflinching  oppo- 
sition to  human  strength — is  a  common  inheritance  of  man, 
at  least  in  a  literary  sense.  This  aspect  of  nature  is  fully 
recorded  by  the  minstrels,  and  hence  they  draw  one  of  their 
most  numerous  classes  of  figures. 

And  first  as  to  the  stillness  of  the  rocks,  we  find  : 

Thomas  still  als  stane  he  stude. 

— Thomas  of  JSrsseldoune,  179  (i,  105)  ; 

Wei  stille  I  stod  als  did  the  stane. 

— Als  I  Tod  on  Ay  Mounday,  33  (i,  274) ; 

He  stood  as  still  as  rock  of  stane. 

—Kinmont  Willie,  178  (vi,  6G); 

Some  fell  in  swonyng  as  thai  were  dede, 
And  lay  still  as  ony  stone. 

—Robin  Hood  and  tJie  Monk,  121-123  (v,  G). 


20  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

A  new  epithet  for  stone  is  in  the  following  solitary  instance  : 

The  young  men  anawer'd  never  a  word, 
They  were  dumb  as  a  stane. 

—Robin  Hood  and  the  Beggar,  215-216  (v,  202). 

And  rocks  and  mountains  are  high,  though  scarcely  noted 
as  such  in  the  ballads,  the  two  succeeding  examples  exhausting 
the  subject ;  perhaps  owing  to  the  physical  conditions  of  the 
Scotch  and  English  birth-place  of  the  ballad  : 

To  lift  him  as  high  as  a  rock. 

—The  Dragon  of  WantUy,  132  (viii,  133)  ; 

and 

The  swelling  seas  ran  mountain-high. 

— Fair  Margaret  of  Graignargat,  103  (viii,  253). 

The  same  idea  may  be  in 

he  will  to  honour  climb. 

— The  Seven  Champions^  32  (i,  84) ; 

or  is  the  traditional  ladder  signified  here  ? 

But,  after  all,  the  most  apparent  attribute  of  rock  is  im- 
penetrability, and  the  comparison  of  this  quality  with 
human  cruelty  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  thoughts,  and  has  so 
obtained  since  the  dawn  of  literature  that  to-day  "  a  stony 
heart "  is  a  term  perfectly  understood,  and  not  easily  to  be 
translated  into  less  figurative  language.  The  ballad-writers,  of 
course,  are  not  slow  to  realise  this  truth.  Some  mstances  are 
these  that  follow : 

And  hee  tooke  up  the  Eldryge  sworde, 
As  hard  as  any  fflynt.* 

—Sir  Cauline,  145-146  (iii,  180) ; 

O  spare,  if  in  your  bluidy  breast, 
Abides  not  heart  of  stane. 

— Lammikin,  85-86  (iii,  310) ; 


Her  heart's  hard  as  marble. 

—  WilloiD,  Willow,  Willow,  19  (iv,  235) ; 


and 


her  hart  as  hard  as  stone. 

—  Queen  Dido,  50  (viii,  209). 
*  Corrected  from  the  Percy  MS. 


IN  THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  21 

Two  similar  comparisons  are  these  isolated  ones,  both  imply- 
ing the  irresistible  force  of  rock : 

His  strength  of  stane. 

—Auld  Maitland,  56  (vi,  222) ; 

and 

Ant  al  hem  to-dryven  ase  ston  doth  the  glae. 

— The  Flemish  Insurrection,  39  (vi,  270). 

Another  obvious  attribute  of  stone  is  coldness.  Here 
again,  the  ballads  lead  the  way.  And  similarly,  in  this  con- 
nection the  coldness  of  clay  may  be  cited. 

And  clay-cold  were  her  rosy  lips. 

— The  Lass  of  Lochroyan,  143  (ii,  112)  ; 

O  wan  and  cold  as  clay, 

— Sweet  Willie  and  Fair  Annie,  158  (ii,  139) ; 

and  in  the  same  poem,  "  clay-cold  lip  "  again  occurs. 
And  once  more : 

Till  she  fell  down  at  Willie's  feet, 
As  cauld  as  ony  stone. 
—Sweet  Willie  and  Fair  Maisry^  127-128  (ii,  337) ; 


and 


He  kissed  her  cold  lips,  which  were  colder  than  stane. 

— Lord  Saltan  and  AuchanarcMe,  55  (ii,  170). 


In  the  famous  "  Children  in  the  Wood,"  53  (iii,  131),  we 
also  find 

With  lippes  as  cold  as  any  stone. 

Here  is  the  chill  of  fear  in  "  The  Nut-browne  Maide,"  141- 
142  (iv,  149). 

it  makith  myn  herte 
As  cold  as  ony  ston ; 


and, 


With  a  heart  more  cold  than  any  stone. 

— 77ie  Famous  Flower  of  Servingmen,  20  (iv,  175). 


22  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOE 

The  harmless  stone  again  takes  another  aspect  in  this  soli- 
tary instance : 

Wha  sits  into  the  Troughend  Tower, 
Wi'  heart  as  black  as  any  stone. 

—The  Death  of  Farcy  Beed,  57-58  (vi,  146). 

Another  element  of  the  physical  world  made  to  stand  in  op- 
position to  man  and  his  desires  is  the  overwhelming  force  of 
water  courses  and  of  the  sea.  We  have  already  noted 
the  personification  of  the  sea,  by  applying  to  it  such  epithets  as 
o'aging,  angry,  etc. ;  we  shall  also  find  occasional  similes  drawn 
from  the  same  source  in  the  ballad  literature.  And  indeed, 
readers  of  Cynewulf  and  the  early  Saxon  poets  do  not  need  to 
be  reminded  of  the  antiquity  of  these  comparisons  in  English 
literature. 

Take  this  from  the  ballads  : 


or  this : 


or, 


and 


How  can  ze  strive  against  the  stream  ? 
For  I  sail  be  obeyd. 

—  Gil  Morice,  21-33  (ii,  33) ; 

The  shallowest  water  makes  maist  din, 
The  deadest  pool  the  deepest  linn  ; 
The  richest  man  least  truth  within, 
Though  he  preferred  be. 

—Fair  Helen,  9-13  (ii,  209) ; 

Nor  rinning  ance  sae  like  a  sea. 

—Jack  o'  the  Side,  112  (vi,  86) ; 

It  was  flowing  like  the  sea. 

—Archie  of  Ca' field,   93  (vi,  93)  ; 

Now  have  they  taken  the  wan  water, 
Though  it  was  roaring  like  the  sea. 

—Billie  Archie,  61-63  (vi,  96),. 

and  in  the  same  poem  (line  46), 

It  now  was  rumbling  like  the  sea. 

And  again  we  have  the  gentler  aspect  of  fountains,  etc.,  in 

Her  eyes  like  fountains  running. 

—The  King  of  France's  Daughter,  98  (iv,  219), 


IN  THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  23 

or  in 

While  crystal  tears,  like  fountains  ran. 

— Fair  Margaret  of  Craignargat,  107  (viii,  253), 

a  style  of  figure  very  frequent  in  the  sentimental  school  of  bal- 
lads to  which  the  first  of  these  quotations  is  to  be  referred. 
"With  these  it  is  interesting  to  compare  Percy's  own  graft  on  the 
defenceless  "  Child  of  Elle," 

The  tears  that  fell  from  her  fair  eyes, 
Ranne  like  the  fountayne  free. 

—Child  of  EUe,  95-96  (iii,  228), 

a  figure  no  better  and  no  worse  than  its  models.  Finally  we 
may  note 

Which  made  it  look  just  like  a  brook, 
Running  with  burning  brandy. 

—  Tlie  Dragon  of  Wantley,  47-43  (viii,  130). 

We  will  not  leave  the  adverse  aspects  of  nature  without  cit- 
ing the  storms  and  elemental  disturbances,  which  go  so  far  to 
afflict  man  when  in  direct  contact  with  uncultivated  nature. 
We  shall  find  these  aspects  of  the  heavens  serving  in  the  ballads 
as  sources  of  figures,  and  the  similes  and  metaphors  drawn  from 
the  phenomena  of  rain,  hail,  thunder,  frost,  and  the  snow 
(except  colour-similes),  are  here  grouped  under  one  head,  in  the 
belief  that  they  are  sufficiently  alike  to  warrant  such  treatment. 

The  comparisons  from  the  rain  are  as  numerous  as  any  in 
this  group,  and  yet  not  frequent.  They  are  as  simple  as  fol- 
lows: 

Till  the  bloode  from  the  bassonetts  ranne, 

As  the  roke  *  doth  in  the  rayne. 

—The  Battle  of  Otterhourne,  89-90  (vii,  15); 

And  the  blood  ran  down  like  rain. 

—Battle  of  Otterboume,  B,  84  (vii,  23) ; 

Till  the  bloode  owte  off  thear  basnets  sprente, 
As  ever  dyd  heal  or  rayne. 

— The  Hunting  of  the  CJieviot,  31  (vii,  36) ; 


and  again. 


But  yt  was  marvele  and  the  red  blude  ronne  not, 
As  the  reane  doys  in  the  stret. 

—The  Hunting  of  the  Cheviot,  175-176  (vii,  42) ; 


*  Roke — reek  or  smoke. 


24  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

and  finally, 

Until  the  blood,  like  drops  of  rain. 

—Chevy  Chace,  127  (vii,  48). 

It  will  be  noted  that  these  similes  are  all  alike.  A  curious 
fact  is  that  they  are  found  only  in  two  poems  of  great  similar- 
ity.    The  reader  can  draw  his  own  conclusion.     Once  again  : 

As  e'er  you  saw  the  rain  down  fa', 

Or  yet  the  arrow  frae  the  bow, 

Sae  our  Scottish  lads  fell  even  down. 

—The  Battle  of  Loudon  Rill,  41-43  (vii,  151) ; 

and 

Quhair  bulletis,  dartia,  and  arrowes  flew, 
Als  thick  as  haill  or  raine. 

—The  Battle  of  Balnnnes,  229-230  (vii,  226). 

A  different  point  of  view  is  that  of  the  following  : 

And  brothers  Balf ours  they  stood  the  first  showWa  [of  arrows] . 

—The  Battle  of  Sheriff-Muir,  59  (vii,  160) ; 

and  in  this : 

Led  Camerons  on  in  donds,  man. 

—The  Battle  of  Tranent-Muir,  10  (vii,  168) ; 

and  again, 

And  the  clouds  of  arrows  flew. 
—Robin  Hood  and  the  Valiant  Knight,  229-230  (v,  891). 

"We  have  at  least  one  good  simile  drawn  from  the  sting  of 
the  hail: 

The  blows  fell  thick  as  bickering  hail. 

—Jamie  Telfer,  134  (vi,  112). 

The  thunder  fares  better  and  receives  due  consideration  in 
these  four  figures  : 

For  a  cannon's  roar,  in  a  summer's  night, 
Is  like  thunder  in  the  air. 

—Bonny  Jo7m  Seton,  59-60  (vii,  234). 

And  similarly, 

For  their  cannons  roar  like  thunder. 

—  Undaunted  Londonderry,  5  (vii,  248) ; 


IN   THE  ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  25 

and 

Thundering  stones  they  laid  on  the  walls. 

—Ibid.,  25  (vii,  249). 

Once  more, 

Golden  (!)  fame  did  thunder. 

—The  King  of  France's  BaugTiter,  176  (iv,  223). 

The  frost  is  recognised  twice,  independently. 

Sen  ze  by  me  will  nae  be  warned 

In  it  ze  sail  find  frost. 

—  Gil  Morice,  41-42  (ii,  32) ; 

which  reminds  one  of  Persius'  "  chilling  threshold," 

Vide  sis,  ne  maiorum  tibi  forte 
limiaa  f  rigescant. 

—Sat.  I,  108-109. 

And  in  this  good  moral  reflection  : 

Fals  waes  here  foreward  so  forst  is  in  May, 
That  Sonne  from  the  southward  wypeth  away. 

—T/ie  Execution  of  Sir  Simon  Fraser,  42-43  (vi,  276). 

The  s  n  o  w,  except  for  the  expression  "  snow-white,"  which 
will  be  treated  under  colour-similes,  is  sparingly  drawn  on  for 
figurative  illustration.  Joined  with  the  frost  it  is  found  in  the 
following  concealed  simile : 

'T  is  not  the  frost  that  freezes  fell, 

Nor  blawing  snaw's  inclemency ; 
'T  is  not  sic  cauld  that  makes  me  cry, 

But  my  love's  heart  grown  cauld  to  me. 

—  Waly  Waly,  but  Love  be  Bonny,  25-28  (iv,  134). 

The  night  is  used  once  as  a  simile  for  darkness  : 

Whare  it  was  dirk  as  mydnyght  myrke. 

— Thomas  of  Ersseldoune,  117  (i,  103). 

In  other  poems  coal  and  pitch  and  tar  are  the  similes  for 
darkness ;  terms  whiph  will  be  treated  in  their  proper  places 
under  colour-similes. 

We  have  purposely  exhausted  the  gloomy  side  of  nature 
before  turning  to  the  brighter  world  of  sun  and  passing  shower. 
Here  we  find  tlie  beauty  and  freshness  of  the  spring  where, 
though  the  rain  may  fall,  it  is  turned  into  jewel-drops  by  the 


26  ■      SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

peeping  sun.     These  figures  are  less  varied  in  the  ballads,  and 
may  be  dismissed  with  fewer  words  than  those  which  preceded. 
To  take  np  the  sun   similes  first,  we  find 

Als  dose  the  sonne  on  someres  daye, 
That  faire  lady  hir  selfe  scho  schone. 

— Thomm  of  Ersseldoune,  20  (i,  98). 

And  again, 

How  art  thu  fadyde  thus  in  the  face 

That  schaue  byf ore  als  the  sonne  so  bryght  ? 

—Ibid.,  101-102  (i,  102). 

In  another  poem, 

She  cast  an  eye  on  little  Musgrave, 

As  bright  as  the  summer  sun. 
— Little  Musgrave  and  the  Lady  Bernard,  13-14  (ii,  16) ; 

and  once  more, 

And  when  she  cam  into  the  kirk, 
She  shimmer' d  like  the  sun. 

— Lord  Thomas  and  Fair  Annet,  77-78  (ii,  128). 

The  moon  is  noticed  twice,  once  favourably,  and  once 
unfavourably  : 

this  worldis  blisse 
That  chaungeth  as  the  mone. 

—The  Nulbrowne  Maide,  61-63  (iv,  146). 

This  beautiful  solitary  instance   occurs   in  Lord  John,  20  (i, 
135): 

Gaed  as  licht  as  a  glint  o'  the  moon. 

Once  we  find 

She  is  neither  white  nor  brown, 
But  as  the  heavens  fair. 

— As  I  Came  from  Walsingham,  9-10  (iv,  192). 

The  morning  dew  and  the  passing  ^  h  o  w  e  r  next  claim 
our  attention.  Twice,  and  in  different  versions  of  the  same 
ballad  occurs  the  line 

And  fades  away  like  the  morning  dew. 

.  K  —Waly,  Waly,  but  Love  be  Bonny,  13  (iv,  133). 
(  — Lord  Jamie  Douglas,  8  (iv.  136) ; 


IN  THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  27 

and  again  we  find  the  beautiful  simile 

They  ley  likes  na  the  summer  shower, 

Nor  girse  the  momin  dew, 
Better,  dear  Lady  Maisry, 

Than  Chil  Ether  loves  you, 

—  CM  Ether,  5-8  (iv,  299), 

and  once  more  in  a  later  ballad, 

And  from  her  cleare  and  cristall  eyes 

The  tears  gusht  out  apace, 
Which,  like  the  silver-pearled  deaw,  etc. 

—Fair  Bosamond,  69-71  (vii,  286). 

The  cbangeableness  of  summer  days,  finally,  is  witnessed  by 
this  from  "  The  Nutbrowne  Maide,"  61-64  (iv,  146) : 

O  Lorde,  what  is  this  worldis  blisse 

That  chaungeth  as  the  mone; 
My  somers  day  in  lusty  May 

Is  derked  before  the  none  ; 

and  in  this  striking  phrase, 

Hii  maden  kyng  of  somer. 

— Execution  of  Sir  Simon  Fraser,  66  (vi,  277). 

Summary. — The  figures,  then,  in  this  subdivision  of  the  sub- 
ject, are  frequent  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  obviousness  of 
the  relationship  expressed  ;  and  the  figures  most  common  in 
the  ballads  are  those  heard  oftenest  in  colloquial  speech. 
"  Swift  as  the  wind,"  "  cold  "  or  "  hard  "  as  stone,  "  bright  as 
the  sun,"  "  loud  as  thunder  "  (at  least  by  implication)  are  most 
in  ballad  use,  and  just  so  far  as  a  ballad  abounds  in  these  sim- 
ple similes  may  we  with  more  authority  vouch  for  its  genuine- 
ness. 


II. 

Similes  arid  Metaphors  drawn  from  Plant  Life. 

Ilere  the  same  remarks  are  applicable  that  were  in  force  in 
the  preceding  section.  There  is  nothing  elaborate,  nothing  but 
what  is  before  the  eyes.     The  bird  on  the  tree,  the  rustling 


28  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

foliage,  the  springing  flower,  are  much  in  evidence,  and  the  com- 
monest metaphor  is  the  bestowing  of  the  term  "  flower "  on 
persons  of  either  sex,  distinguished  for  beauty  or  virtue.  We 
shall  take  up  the  figures  in  detail,  in  order  of  their  logical 
development. 

The  object  most  apparent  in  the  first  view  of  the  world  of 
growth  is  the  grass  at  our  feet,  seen  everywhere  and  become  a 
part  of  our  thought.  The  simile  "  grass-green,"  then,  is  nat- 
ural, and  in  the  ballads  it  is  frequent.  Later  we  shall  see  how 
strong  was  the  love  of  colour  in  these  poems  and  how  reasonable 
it  is  to  find  in  them  "  grass-green  "  and  "  milk-white,"  used  to- 
gether for  purposes  of  contrast.     Formulaic  as  any  are  these 

lines. 

He  took  her  by  the  milk-white  hand, 
And  by  the  grass-green  sleeve  ; 

but  this  belongs  more  properly  to  the  chapter  on  colour-similes 
and  to  that  we  leave  it. 

Once  occurs  the  striking  simile 

I  am  glad  as  grasse  wold  be  of  raine. 

— TJie  Marriage  of  Sir  Oawaine,  200  (i,  38), 

in  a  ballad  of  the  Percy  folio,  and  therefore  authentic. 

But  it  is  ever  the  exception  that  attracts  most  attention. 
We  see  many  sunny  days,  but  it  is  the  lowering  heaven  that 
lifts  our  eyes — mostly  in  doubt — to  the  sky.  The  grass,  too,  is 
much  commoner  that  the  flower,  yet  it  is  the  flower  that  re- 
ceives most  frequent  mention  in  popular  literature.  These 
flower-similes  are,  in  fact,  the  most  plentiful  crop  that  the  bal- 
ladist  gathers  on  his  imaginative  journey  through  the  world. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  quote  all  the  instances,  and  we  must, 
therefore,  content  ourselves  with  citing  the  most  remarkable. 

The  metaphor  by  which  a  person  of  striking  qualities,  phys- 
ical or  moral,  is  called  a  flower  is  perpetuated  to-day  in  collo- 
quial English  as  it  was  in  colloquial  Greek,  and  undoubtedly  in 
the  popular  speech  of  all  nations.  Instances  in  the  ballads  are 
the  following : 

I  dreamt  that  Annie  of  Lochroyan, 
The  flower  o'  a'  her  kin. 

— Annie  of  Lochroyan,  97-98  (ii,  103). 


IN  THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  29 

The  fairest  flower's  cut  down  by  love, 
That  e'er  sprung  up  in  Fyvie. 

—Andreio  Lammie,  187-188  (ii,  199). 

The  flower  of  my  affected  heart, 
Whose  sweetness  doth  excell. 

— Fair  Rosamond,  53-54  (vii,  286). 

Of  all  fairheid  scho  bur  the  flour. 

The  Bloody  Sark,  9  (viii,  148). 

More  striking  is  the  expression 

Untimely  crop  some  virgin  flowr. 

— St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  50  (i,  74). 

That  courtesy  was  not  everywhere  in  evidence  in  these 
poems  of  the  age  of  chivalry  is  shown  by  the  line, 

O  hold  your  tongue,  my  sprightly  flower. 

— James  Herries,  61  (i,  2C7). 

The  particular  kind  of  flower  is  sometimes  specified ;  occa- 
sionally it  is  a  rose,  more  frequently  a  lily.  Note  the  follow- 
ing : 

Come  ben,*  come  ben,  my  lily  flower. 

—  Young  Akin,  207  (i,  188), 

and, 

Gang  to  your  bouirs,  ye  lilye  flouirs. 

—The  Clerk's  I'wa  Sons  o'  Owsenford,  77  (ii,  67). 

A  formulaic  line,  this  last,  met  sometimes  in  the  singular  : 

Gang  to  your  bower,  my  lily  flower. 

— Blanchejlour  aiul  Jellyflorice,  81  (iv,  298). 

A  more  original  bit  is  this  : 

A  fairer  rose  did  never  bloom 

Than  now  lies  cropped  on  Yarrow. 

—  2he  Bowie  Bens  of  Yarrow,  07-68  (iii,  68). 

Once  more, 

The  fairest  rose  in  all  the  world. 

— Fair  Rosamond,  51  (vii,  286). 

*  Ben— quickly. 


30  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOE 

Compare  in  Shakspere,  Laertes'  impassioned 

0  rose  of  May  ! 
Dear  maid,  kind  sister,  sweet  Ophelia. 

— Hamlet,  iv,  5,  140, 
and  the  well-known 

Elaine,  the  lily  maid  of  Astolat. 

Mixed  metaphor  is  rare  ;  the  following,  however,  is  certainly- 
susceptible  to  that  charge : 

For  the  i&ix  flower  of  England  will  never  sJiine  more. 

—  Queen  Jeanie,  36  (vii,  76). 

The  radical  metaphor  in  the  verb  fiouiisJi  occurs,  and  is 
submitted  here  with  the  reservation  that,  as  the  balladists 
probably  knew  nothing  of  the  figure  in  question,  they  used  it 
simply,  without  premeditation.     The  instances  are  these  : 

The  London  dames,  in  Spanish  pride, 
Didi  flourish  everywhere. 

—  Queen  Eleanor's  Fall,  21-22  (vii,  293). 


Or, 


There  he  flourisJit  many  a  day. 

—Thomas  Stukeley,  58  (vii,  309). 

Who  on  the  throne  does  flourish  and  reign. 

—  Undaunted  Londonderry,  62  (vii,  250). 


Another  verbal  metaphor  is  the  solitary  use  of  flower  as  a 
verb  in  the  threat  to  the  offender, 

Thou  shalt  be  the  first  man 
Shall  flower  this  gallows  tree. 
—Robin  Rood  and  the  Old  Man,  64-65  (v,  260). 

Once  more,  there  is  a  metaphor  concealed  in  the  term  "  the 
drooping  king."     ("  The  Seven  Champions,"  102,  i,  87.) 

Passing  from  metaphor  to  simile,  we  find  the  lily  and  the 
rose  contending  for  mastership  as  in  one  of  the  similes  to  be 
adduced  in  another  connexion ;  and  sometimes  again,  the  spe- 
cies of  flower  is  left  to  the  imagination.  Instance  the  follow- 
ing : 

Her  bloom  was  like  the  springing  flower 
That  salutes  the  rosy  morning. 

— Andrew  Lammie,  5-6  (ii,  191). 


Or, 


Again, 


IN   THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  31 

For  the  flower  that  springs  in  May  morning, 
Was  not  sae  sweet  as  she. 

—The  Gay  Goss-EawTc,  47-48  (iii,  279). 

She  brightened  like  the  lily-flower. 

—Ibid.,  137  (iii,  283). 

Earl  Richard  had  but  ae  daughter, 
Fair  as  a  lily-flower. 

—Birth  of  Robin  Hood,  5-6  (v,  170). 


Till  she  wallow't  *  like  a  lily. 

—  Geordie{k),  12  (viii,  93). 

To  whicli  we  may  compare, 

She's  wallowed  like  a  weed. 

—The  Jolly  Gos7iawk,  114  (iii,  290). 
Finally,  we  may  cite. 

But  like  the  rose  among  the  throng 
Was  the  lady  and  her  maries  fair. 

—The  Hireman  Chid,  214-215  (viii,  241). 

The  sweetness  of  flowers,  too,  is  probably  the  source  of  the 
expression,  "  my  sweet  love,"  etc.  This  is  proved  by  the  verse 
already  quoted, 

The  flower  of  my  affected  heart, 
Whose  sweetness  doth  excell ; 

again,  we  have, 

To  hang  ihefloicer  o'  Scottish  land, 
Sae  sweet  and  fair  a  boy. 

—  Gilderoy,  85-86  (vi,  201), 

and 

My  sweet,  bonnie  Lady. 

—  Geordie  (A),  60  (viii,  95). 

More  materially, 

A  breath  as  sweet  as  rose. 

—  Gilderoy,  10  (vi,  198). 

After  flowers,  the  trees.  To  the  popular  poet,  the  joyous- 
ness  and  lightness  of  the  summer  foliage  was  the  salient  feature 
of  tree  life.     This  is  evidenced  by  the  following  large  group : 

Kobene  on  his  wayis  went. 
As  licht  as  Icif  of  tre. 

—Robene  and  Makyne,  65-66  (iv,  248). 
*  Withered. 


32  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

And  Robyn  was  in  mery  Scherwode 
As  lizt  as  lef  on  lynde. 

—Ilohin  Hood  and  tlie  Monk,  300-301  (v,  14). 

Thus  be  these  good  yemen  gone  to  the  wood 
As  lyght  as  lefe  on  lynde. 
—Adam  Bel,  Clym  of  the  ClougTie,  etc.,  171-173  (v,  145), 

And  once,  the  following, 

She's  as  jimp  in  the  middle, 
As  ony  willow-wand. 

—The  Laird  of  Waristoun,  7-8  (iii,  107). 

This  idea  of  the  lightness  of  leaves  is  given  a  distinctly 
humorous  turn  in  the  clever  ballad  of  the  "  Wanton  Wife  of 
Bath,"  77-78  (viii,  155)  where 

"  They  say,"  quoth  Thomas,  "  women's  tongues 
Of  aspen  leaves  are  made." 

The  birds  and  their  song  are  so  important  a  part  of  the  visi- 
ble landscape  that  it  is  with  difficulty  we  refrain  from  introduc- 
ing the  bird-similes  in  this  place  ;  but  on  reflection  it  seems 
perhaps  better  to  relegate  these  figures,  "  blythe  as  bird  on  tree," 
etc.,  to  the  second  great  division  of  the  subject — Figures  drawn 
from  Animals  and  their  Characteristics. 

The  strength  of  trees  tempts  the  popular  bard  to  a  com- 
parison with  stiffness  of  moral  purpose. 

I  leaned  my  back  unto  an  aik, 

I  thought  it  was  a  tru£?ty  tree ; 
But  first  it  bow'd,  and  syne  it  brak, 

Sae  my  true  love  did  lightly  me  ! 

—  Waly,  Waly,  but  Love  be  Bonny,  5-8  (iv,  133). 


Again 


Once  more, 


But  yet  we  will  not  slander  them  all. 

For  there  is  of  them  good  enow ; 
It  is  a  sore  consumed  tree, 

That  on  it  bears  not  one  fresh  bough. 

—Bookhope  Ryde,  9-13  (vi,  123). 


Thir  Weardale  men,  they  have  good  hearts, 
They  are  as  stiff  as  any  tree. 

—Lbid.,  137-138  (vi,  129). 


IK  THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  33 

Similar  enough  to  be  quoted  is  this : 

There's  nane  may  lean  on  a  rotten  staff, 

But  him  that  risks  to  get  a  fa' ; 
There's  nane  may  in  a  traitor  tmst, 

And  traitors  black  were  every  Ha'. 

—  'Die  Death  of  Parcy  Reed,  49-52  (vi,  142). 

A  "Qse  of  h  e  d  g  e  for  strength  or  defence  is  familiar  to  students 
of  Anglo-Saxon  literature  and  of  Beowulf  in  particular.  In  the 
ballads  we  find 

He  was  a  hedge  nnto  his  friends, 
A  heckle*  to  his  foes,  lady. 

—Sob  Boy,  53-54  (vi,  206). 

The  greenness  and  pit h — in  other  words,  the  strength 
and  rigour  of  plant-life  are  instanced  here : 

(1)  Thy  thoughts  are  greene. 

—  Gentle  Herdsman,  Tell  to  Me,  14  (iv,  188), 

(2)  — and  Glangary's  pith,  too. 

—The  Battle  of  Shenff-Muir,  31  (vii,  159); 

and  their  opposites  in  the  following: 

(1)  Love  liketh  not  the  fallen  fruit, 

Xor  the  withered  tree. 

— As  I  Came fromWalsingham,  27-28  (iv,  192). 

(2)  The  beggar  answered  cankerdly. 

— BoUn  Hood  and  the  Beggar,  51  (v,  190). 

(3)  But  with  crosse-grain^d,  words  they  did  him  thwart. 

— Bobin  Hood's  Progress,  Introd.  3  (v,  290). 

'    The  fruit  of  the  tree  is  seldom  noted.     We  find  once 

Ilka  ee  intil  her  head 
Was  like  a  rotten  ploom. 

—Kempy-Kaye,  41-42  (viii,  141) ; 

but  this,  like  the  Icaily  lij>s,  {cahhage-liJce  lips)  of  the  same 
poem,  is  a  special  comparison  applied  to  a  particular  case,  and 
deserves  no  notice,  not  having  a  bearing  on  figures  in  general 
— those  that  occur  with  comparative  frequency  throughout  the 
ballads. 

*  Heckle — hatchel,  flax-comb. 


34  SIMILE   AND   METAPIIOE 

"  Smells  not  like  balsam  "  *  is  another  solitary  instance, 
proving  nothing.     Once,  too,  we  find 

I  was  once  as  f  ow  of  Gill  Morice, 
As  the  hip  f  is  o'  the  stean. 

—  Gil  Morice,  143-144  (ii,  371). 

She  burned  like  hoUin-green. 

—Earl  Richard  120  (iii,  9), 

is  a  comparison  found  once,  and  good  to  that  extent.  And  "  as 
fair's  a  cypress  queen  "  (John  o'  Ilazelgreen,  120,  iv,  88)  used 
also  but  once,  will  end  the  list  of  sporadic  illustrations  drawn 
from  plant  life. 

Summary. — Figures  of  resemblance,  then,  in  the  plant  world, 
drawn  from  the  green  grass,  the  fiowers,  particularly  the  rose 
and  the  lily,  from  the  foliage  and  strength  of  trees,  are  com- 
mon enough ;  those  drawn  from  such  sources,  accordingly, 
would  be  good  evidence,  other  things  being  equal,  of  the  pop- 
ular origin  of  a  ballad.  Tlarer  use  is  made  of  the  hedge 
(familiar,  as  we  saw,  in  Anglo-Saxon),  the  canker  of  trees,  etc., 
and  the  ballad  that  employs  figures  drawn  therefrom,  is  on 
that  account  less  liable  to  complete  acceptance.  It  is,  as  will 
have  been  observed,  in  this  province  of  the  natural  world,  that 
some  of  the  greatest  numbers  of  repetitions  of  simile  and  meta- 
phor occur ;  the  result  is  put  forward  without  further  com- 
ment, as  only  one  conclusion  may  be  reached  from  it. 

III. 

Similes  and  Metaj^Jiors  of  Colour. 

Colour  is  the  one  thing  everywhere  prominent  in  the  bal- 
lads. Everything  sparkles  ;  the  lawn  is  green,  the  sky  is  fair  ; 
the  lady's  hand  is  milk-white,  her  dress  is  green  as  grass ;  her 
cheek  is  rosy,  her  lip  cherry  and  sometimes  ruby  ;  her  hair  is 
like  the  "  mowten  "  gold.  Every  colour  has  its  characteristic 
epithet,  and  the  epithet  is  employed  again  and  again. 

As  we  began,  in  describing  the  similes  drawn  from  nature, 

*  The  Dragon  of  Wantley,  110  (viii,  132). 
f  Hip  =  berry. 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH.  BALLADS.  35 

with  the  darker  or  aflverse  phenomena,  so  in  colour-similes  we 
will  begin  with  the  expressions  denoting  white  and  black,  the 
absence,  if  you  please,  of  all  colour.  And  jBrst,  the  natural 
similes  implying  whiteness  demand  our  attention.  It  has 
already  been  said  that  the  epithet  "  milk-white  "  occurs  more 
than  sixty  times  in  the  ballads  ;  indeed,  as  the  diminutives 
in -let  have  been  burlesqued  by  modern  bards,  so  the  stately 
"  milk-white  "  has  lost  for  more  sophisticated  readers  its  for- 
mer aptness,  in  the  play  of  humour  that  to-day  is  sure  to  put  it 
in  solution.  In  the  ballads  the  simile  is  used  to  describe 
various  things.     In  Thomas  the  Khymer,  29  (i,  110), 

She  mounted  on  her  milk-white  steed  ; 

and  in  young  Tamlane,  149  (i,  121), 

For  I  will  ride  on  the  milk-white  steed. 

Again, 

O  where  were  ye,  my  milk-white  steed? 

—The  Broomfleld  Hill,  33  (i,  133). 

Many  instances   of   "  milk-white "  steed   occur  throughout 
these  songs. 

The  expression  is  applied  likewise  to  hands  : 

She  took  me  up  in  her  milk-white  hands. 

—Alison  Gross,  49  (i,  170). 

And  in  the  formulaic  line  : 

He's  taen  her  by  the  milk-white  hand, 

which  occurs  among  other  places  in  Tam-a-Line,  25  (i,  259). 

Again 

O  laith,  laith  were  our  guid  lords'  sons 
To  weet  their  milk-white  hands. 

— Sir  Patrick  Spens,  94  (iii,  341). 

But  other  things  are  also  milk-white.     In  Clerk  Tamas  58, 
(iii,  351), 

Sae  did  she  till  her  milk-white  chin. 

In  Young  Beichan  and  Susie  Pye,  73  (iv,  13) : 
Ye  set  your  milk-wliite  foot  on  board. 


36  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

In  King  Lear  and  his  Three  Daughters,  137  (vii,  281)  : 


Which  made  him  rend  his  milk-white  locks. 


As  to  tlie  dress  of  man 


And  he  wore  a  milk-white  weed,  0. 

— Sweet  Willie  and  Lady  Margerie,  3  (ii,  63)  ; 


and  in  a  variation  of  the  same  poem : 


And  milk-white  was  his  weed. 

—  Willie  and  Lady  Maisry,  13  (ii,  57). 


The  epithet  is  also  applied  to  other  living  creatures.     A  few 


are  the  following 


Again, 


and, 


Tour  bower  was  full  o'  milk-white  swans. 

— Lord  Livingston,  81  (iii,  346). 

There's  either  a  mer-maid  or  a  milk-white  swan, 

—The  Cruel  Sister,  63  (ii,  235). 

Then  up  and  crew  the  milk-white  cock. 

—  Clerk  Saunders,  65  (ii,  53). 

And  four  and  twenty  milk-white  dows. 

— Lo7'd  Wa'  Yates  and  Old  Ingram,  91  (ii,  339). 

Till  by  it  came,  the  milk-white  hynde. 

— Leesome  Brand,  67  (ii,  344) 

I  have  four  and  twenty  milk-white  cows 

—Earl  Richard  B,  39  (iii,  367). 


The  comparison  of  white  objects  to  m  ilk  is  also  found  often 
in  the  more  direct  simile  form,  "  white  as  milk,"  or  "  whiter 
than  milk." 

Your  body's  whiter  than  milk. 

—  Clerk  Colvill,  30  (i,  193). 

On  his  bodye  as  white  as  mUke. 

—  Child  Waters,  160  (iii,  313). 

And  on  the  block  he  laid  his  neck, 
Was  whiter  than  the  milk. 

—  Toung  Waters,  147-148  (iii,  306). 

Thy  pumps  as  white  as  was  the  milk. 

—  Greensleeves,  31  (iv,  243). 


IN   THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  37 

Once,  too,  we  have  the  same  idea  in 

She's  ty'd  it  round  his  whey-white  face. 

—Clerk  Cohill,  28  (i,  193). 

But  other  things  beside  milk  are  white.  Milk-white,  it 
will  be  observed,  has  passed,  in  modern  usage,  into  snow- 
white.  This  comparison  is  not  so  common  in  the  ballads,  yet 
it  occurs  several  times.  In  The  Daemon  Lover,  71  (i,  204),  we 
find 

0  waesome  wail'd  the  snaw-white  sprites. 

Other  examples  are  these  : 

O  I  will  hae  the  snaw-white  boy, 

—The  Cruel  Brother,  25  (ii,  264). 

When  the  raven  shall  be  white  as  snow. 

—The  Youth  of  Rosengord,  43  (ii,  348). 

He  lifted  up  the  snaw-white  sheets. 

— Sir  Hugh  le  Blond,  51  (iii,  256). 

ann  I  were  as  white 
As  e'er  the  snaw  lay  on  the  dyke. 

—The  Qaherlunzie  Man,  21-22  (viii,  99). 

The  Dinlay  snaw  was  ne'er  mair  white, 
Nor  the  lyart  *  locks  of  Harden's  hair. 

—Jamie  Telfer,  143-144  (vi,  112). 

Hair  black  as  sloe,  skin  white  as  snow. 

—The  Dragon  of  Wantley,  69  (viii,  181). 

With  her  feet  as  white  as  sleet. 

— Sweet  Willie  and  Lady  Margerie,  29  (ii.  54). 


Similarly, 


The  comparison  with  1  i  1  i  e  s  is,  perhaps,  even  more  frequent 
than  the  comparison  with  snow. 

She  stretched  out  her  lily-white  hand. 

— Sweet  William's  Qhost,  37  (il  147). 

AVith  which  compare  Percy's  interpolated  line  : 

Then  she  held  forthe  her  liley-white  hand. 

—Sir  Cauline,  173  (iii,  181). 

"Lily-white  hand,"  indeed,  almost  divides  the  honours  in  the 
ballads  with  "  milk-white  hand." 
*  Lyart — hoary. 


38  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

In  the  f  olio  win  o;  the  simile  is  more  concealed  : 

■   O  hold  your  tongue,  my  lily  leesome  thing. 

— James  Herriea,  73  (i,  308). 

She's  ta'en  her  by  the  lily  hand. 

—The  Cruel  Sister,  21  (ii,  233). 

Then  he  cut  off  her  head 
Era'  her  lily  breast  bane. 

— Lambert  Liiikin,  87-88  (iii,  105). 

The  swan  also  serves,  in  the  popular  songs,  as  a  simile  for 

whiteness. 

His  heved  was  wyte  als  ony  swan. 

— Als  I  Tod  on  Ay  Mounday,  21  (i.  274). 

There's  twa  smocks  in  your  coffer, 
As  white  as  a  swan. 

— Lambert  Linkin,  61-62  (iii,  104). 

Similarly,  in  the  two  versions  of  The  Gay  Goshawk,  we  find  : 

The  white  that  is  on  her  breast  bare, 
Like  the  down  o'  the  white  sea-maw. 

—The  Gay  Goshawk,  27-28  (iii,  278), 

and 

The  thing  of  my  love's  face  that's  white 
Is  that  of  dove  or  maw. 

—The  Jolly  Goss-IIawk,  9-10  (iii,  285), 

a  simile  whose  genuineness  is  vouched  for  by  existing  in  two 
versions. 
Once  occurs 

0  white,  white  war  his  wounds  washen, 
As  white  as  a  linen  clout. 

—  Young  Eedin,  85-86  (iii,  17), 

and  once  only, 

His  beard  was  all  on  a  white,  a. 
As  white  as  whale's  bone. 

—By  Landsdale  Hey  Bo,  33-34  (v,  432). 

With  this  latter  compare  Shakspere's 


His  teeth  as  white  as  whale's  bone. 

— Love's  Labours  Lost,  v,  2. 


IlSr  THE   ENGLISH   ATSTD   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  39 

Three  similes  for  paleness  are  these  : 

And  straiglit  againe  as  pale  as  lead. 

— King  KopJietua  and  the  Beggar  Maid,  78  (iv,  198)  ; 

Sometimes  her  cheek  is  rosy  red 
And  sometimes  deadly  wan. 

—Burd  Ellen,  89-90  (iii,  217) ; 

More  pale  she  was,  when  she  sought  my  grace, 
Than  prymrose  pale  and  wan. 

—Jellon  Grame,  73-74  (ii,  289). 

The  similes  of  bl  ackn  ess  and  darkness  are  less  com- 
mon, perhaps  from  the  desire,  previously  mentioned,  on  the 
part  of  these  poets,  to  represent  the  bright  side  of  nature  in 
their  similes.  "  Coal-black  "  is  the  most  frequently  used,  as  in 
colloquial  speech  to-day. 

He  mounted  on  his  coal-black  steed. 
—  Willie  and  May  Margaret,  5  and  61  (ii,  172  and  174). 

He's  set  his  twa  sons  on  coal-black  steeds. 

—Jamie  TeJfer,  81  (vi,  1C9). 

0  laith,  laith  were  our  Scots  lords'  sons 
To  weet  their  coal-black  shoon. 

—Sir  Patrick  Spens,  97-98  (iii,  341). 

"Black  as  a  crow"  (opposed  to  "white  as  a  swan"), 
black  as  pitch  or  tar,  or  sable,  or  night,  are  common  expres- 
sions to-day.     They  occur  but  rarely  in  the  ballads. 

When  the  swan  is  black  as  night. 

—The  Youth  of  Bosengood,  38  (ii,  348). 

With  consciences  black  as  a  craw,  man. 

—ITie  Battle  of  SJieriff-Muir,  4G  (vii,  161). 

Wi'  their  horses  black  as  ony  craw. 

—The  Battle  of  Pentland  Hills,  2  (vii,  241). 

Note  how  these  war  ballads  repeat  the  same  figures,  which 
are  found  nowhere  else.  With  this  compare  the  blood  which 
"  ran  like  rain  "  in  division  I,  found  only  in  the  battle  songs. 


40  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

Once,  again,  occur  the  following  : 

(1)  Though  dark  the  night  as  pick  and  tar. 

—Hobie  JSToble,  45  (vi,  100). 

(2)  The  night  is  mirk,  and  it's  very  pit  *  mirk. 

—ArcJde  of  Ca' field,  39  (vi,  90). 
Only  once,  too  : 

Her  riding  suit  was  of  sable  hew  black. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Stranger,  37  (v,  411). 

Likewise,  once  occurs  the  well-known  simile, 

Hair  black  as  sloe. 

—The  Dragon  of  Wantley,  69  (viii,  131) ; 
and  this  peculiar  one 

Ann  ye  were  as  black 
As  e'er  the  crown  of  my  dady's  hat. 

— The  Oaberlunzie  Man,  17-18  (viii,  99). 

A  different  figure  is  the  following,  yet  cited  here  for  complete- 
ness ; 

Yes,  I  will  gae  zour  black  errand. 

—  Gil  Morice,  39  (ii,  33). 

After  the  white  and  black,  green  and  red  attract  our 
attention.  Green,  in  the  expression  "  grass-green,"  is  very  com- 
mon in  the  ballads  ;  it  does  not  occur  with  any  object  of  com- 
parison except  grass. 

Her  shirt  was  o'  the  grass-green  silk. 

— Thomas  the  Rhymer,  5  (i,  109). 
And  by  the  grass-green  sleeve. 

—Tam-a-Line,  26  (i,  259). 

For  thou  hast  sent  her  a  mantle  of  greene, 
As  greene  as  any  grasse. 

—  Child  Maurice,  51-52  (ii,  315). 

Thy  gown  was  of  the  grassie  green. 

— Oreensleeves,  33  (iv,  242). 
And  thrice  she  blew  on  a  grass-green  horn. 

—Alison  Gross,  30  (i,  169). 
And  once,  peculiarly, 

And  out  there  came  the  fair  Janet, 
As  green  as  any  grass. 

—The  Young  Tamlane,  59-60  (i,  117). 

*  Pit-mirk — dark  as  a  pit  or  as  pitch  ?  Probably,  for  phonetic  reasons,  the 
former. 


« 

IN  THE   E]!q-GLISH  AIS^D   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  41 

Kedness  is  compared  indifferently  to  the  rose,  the  cherry, 
the  ruby,  and  to  blood.     As  for  the  r  o  s  e  ,  we  find  ; 

And  clay-cold  were  her  rosy  lips. 

—  The  Lass  of  Lockroyan,  143  (ii,  112). 

The  lady  blush'd  a  rosy  red. 

—The  Cruel  Brother,  21  (ii,  252). 

And  redder  than  rose  her  ruddy  heart's  blood. 

— Jellon  Grame,  75  (ii,  289). 

He's  put  it  to  his  red  rosy  lips. 

—Earl  Robert,  15  (iii,  27). 

Sometimes  her  cheek  is  rosy  red. 

—Burd  Ellen,  90  (iii,  217). 

And  drap  it  on  her  rose-red  lips. 

—Tlie  Gay  Goshaick,  71  (iii,  288). 

And  red  and  rosy  was  the  blood, 
Ran  down  the  lily  braes. 

— Katharine  Janfarie^  67-68  (iv,  32). 

And,  somewhat  differently,  we  find  "  rosy  morning,"  Andrew 
Lammie,  6  (ii,  191). 

Another  figure  is  the  following  :  ^ 

The  blood  within  her  cristall  cheeks 

Did  such  a  cuUour  drive, 
As  though  the  lilly  and  the  rose 

For  mastership  did  strive. 
*  —Fair  Rosamond,  13-16  (vii,  284). 

The  last,  however,  is  from  a  ballad  of  the  worst  period, 
when  little  spontaneity  distinguished  the  productions  in  this 
line,  llei-e,  for  instance,  from  a  ballad  standpoint  we  could 
wish  for  more  matter  with  less  art.  Compare,  however, 
Shakspere's  description  of  Lucrece's  beauty  : 

This  silent  war  of  lilies  and  of  roses 
Which  Tarquin  viewed  in  her  fair  face's  field. 

A  mixture  of  personification  tinges  the  last  comparison  under 

this  head, 

And  brings  a  blushing  rose. 

— TJie  Seven  Champions,  116  (i,  88). 


42  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

As  for  the  c  li  e  r  r  j  comparisons,  they  all  refer  to  the  colour- 
ing of  the  human  face  : 

O  first  he  kist  her  cherry  cheek. 

— Fair  Annie  of  Lochroyan,  139  (ii,  104). 

0  cherry,  cherry  was  her  cheek. 

— Tfie  Lass  of  Lockroyan,  141  (ii,  112). 

She  hath  lost  her  cherry-red. 
— Fair  Margaret  and  Sweet  William,  48  (ii,  143). 

He's  put  it  to  his  cherry  lip. 

—Prince  Robert,  19  (iii,  23). 

And  chirry  were  her  cheiks. 

—Edom  o'  Gordon,  74  (vi,  157). 

The  ruby  comparison  is  interchangeable  with  rose  and 
cherrv  similes,  but  is  not  so  common. 

And  sair  he  kist  her  ruby  lips. 

— Fair  Annie  of  Lochroyan,  131  (ii,  104). 

With  rosy  cheek  and  ruby  lip. 

—  Vie  Gay  Gosliawk,  139  (iii,  283). 

Once  only  occurs  the  epithet  "  coral-red,"  in  a  poem,  how- 
ever, whose  origin  is  not  popular  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word. 

Her  lippes  like  to  a  corrall  red. 

— Fair  Rosamond,  73  (vii,  287). 

From  these  examples  it  will  be  seen  that  the  descriptions  of 
heroines  in  modern  fiction  of  a  certain  rank  are  builded.  better 
than  perhaps  their  authors  knew — directly  by  descent  on  the 
firm  foundation  of  popular  tradition. 

The  epithet  blood-red  is  limited  to  wine,  in  the  ballad 
literature. 

"VVe  find  in  the  first  lines  of  Sir  Patrick  Spence  (iii,  149) : 


Again, 


The  king  sits  in  Dumferling  town, 
Drinking  the  blude-reid  wine. 

And  eneugh  of  the  blood-red  wine. 

— Johnie  of  Breadislee,  10  (vi,  12). 


Conversely,  in  The  Douglas  Tragedy, 


And  aye  she  dighted  her  father's  bloody  wounds, 
That  were  redder  than  the  wine. 


IlSr   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  43 

And  in  The  Gay  Goshawk  (the  two  versions)  the  redness  of 
blood  is  used  as  a  simile  as  follows : 

The  red  that's  on  my  true  love's  cheek 
Is  like  blood-drops  in  the  snaw. 

—The  Oay  Goshawk,  25-26  (iii,  278), 


and  again, 


The  thing  of  my  love's  face  that's  red 
Is  like  blood  shed  on  snaw. 

—T/ie  Jolly  Oos-Hawk,  11-12  (iii,  285), 


which  is  striking  and  picturesque,  if  not  a  very  pretty  idea.  To 
conclude,  Robin  Hood  and  the  Stranger,  1-i  (v,  405)  has  the 
expression. 

His  stockings  like  scarlet  shone. 

The  next  colour  to  receive  marked  attention  is  the  modest 
brown.  The  adjectives  nut-brown  and  berry-brown 
must  be  familiar  to  all. 

It's  ye  do  kill  your  berry-brown  steed. 

—King  Eenry,  29  (i,  148). 

He's  luppen  on  his  berry-brown  steed. 

—The  Water  d  Wearies  Well,  9  (i,  199). 

And  now  he  drew  his  berry-brown  sword. 

—The  Laidly  Worm  of  Spindleston-Heugh,  101  (i,  285), 

as  peculiar  an  epithet  to  apply  to  a  sword,  as  oiut-hrown,  which 
follows. 

The  epithet  nut-brown  is  well  known  from  the  famous 
Nutbrowne  Maide.     A  few  ballad  instances  may  be  cited  : 

0  sail  I  tak  the  nut-browne  bride  ? 

— Lord  Thomas  and  Fair  Annet,  15  (ii,  136). 

Nut-browne  is  used  eight  times  in  this  one  poem. 

Young  Johnstone  had  a  nut-brown  sword. 

—  Young  Johnston,  13  (ii,  292). 

And  Robin  had  a  nut-brown  sword. 

—Bobln  Rood  and  the  Beggar,  46  (v,  253). 

A  solitary  instance: 

But  fair  fa'  that  bonnie  apple-gray. 

—Lady  Marjorie,  57  (ii,  340). 


44  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

Tlie  yellow  gold  and  the  white  silver  are  every- 
where recognised  in  the  ballads,  and  it  is  perhaps  as  well  to  close 
the  discussion  of  colour-similes  Avith  those  drawn  from  these 
sources.  This  plan  has  been  snggested  by  the  fact  that  it  is 
ever  the  brilliancy  and  external  showing  of  these  minerals  that 
received  most  attention  from  the  balladists,  and  on  that  account 
the  similes  derived  therefrom  exact  classification  nnder  the 
present  rather  than  under  the  following  division  of  the  subject. 
"With  this  word  of  explanation,  we  may  proceed  to  the  discus- 
sion of  the  gold  and  silver  similes. 

The  greater  number  of  the  figures  suggested  by  resem- 
blances to  gold  are  used  of  the  hair  of  individuals. 

The  very  hair  o'  my  love's  head 
Was  like  the  threads  o'  gold. 

—James  Eerries,  99-100  (i,  209). 

And  gowden  was  her  hair. 

—  The  Lass  of  Locliroyan,  142  (ii,  112). 

The  hair  that  hung  owre  Johnie's  neck  shined 
Like  the  links  o'  yellow  gold. 

—Jolinie  Scot,  75-76  (iv,  54). 

His  hair  was  like  the  threads  o'  gowd. 

— Lord  Tliomas  of  Winesberry,  etc. ,  45  (iv,  307), 

How  gowden  yellow  is  your  hair. 

—  Lady  Elspat,  2  (iv,  308). 

Her  crisped  locks  like  threedes  of  gold. 

— Fair  Rosamond,  9  (vii,  284). 

And  yet  we  find  it  in  other  connexions.  "  Glistering  like 
gold  "  occurs  (The  Boy  and  the  Mantle,  128,  i,  13),  and 

And  als  clere  golde  her  brydill  it  schone. 

— Thomas  of  Ersseldoune,  35  (1,  99). 

The  masts  that  were  like  the  beaten  gold. 

— The  Daemon  Lover,  45  (i,  203). 

And  after  him  a  finikin  lass 

Did  shine  like  the  glistering  gold. 

—Robin  Hood  and  Ailin  a  Dale,  71-72  (v,  281). 

Whose  person  was  better  than  gold. 

—Robin  Hood  and  Maid  Marian,  36  (v,  373). 


i:?^   THE   ETs^GLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  45 

Gold  and  silver  are  combined  in  the  following  instances : 

And  the  topmast  and  the  mainmast, 
Shone  like  the  silver  free. 

—Fair  Annie,  37-38  (iii,  193); 

and  in  the  same  poem  (11.  41-42), 

And  the  topmast  and  the  mainmast 
They  shone  just  like  the  gold. 

In  Lord  Livingston,  23,  25  (iii,  344),  we  find 

The  kipples  *  were  like  the  gude  red  gowd, 
And  the  roof -tree  like  the  siller  white. 

Summary. — Milk-white,  snow-white,  lilj-white,  white  as  a 
swan  (perhaps),  grass-green,  rosy,  ruby,  cherry,  berry-brown, 
nut-brown,  golden,  glistering  like  gold,  etc.,  are  figures  of  colour 
that  may  pass  unquestioned  in  the  ballads ;  no  figures  are  used 
oftener  and  none  are  more  genuine.  Other  similes  from  colour 
there  are  none,  purple,  orange,  and  violet  not  being  represented, 
and  the  use  of  the  few  mentioned,  over  and  over  again,  shows 
how  averse  the  popular  poetry  must  have  been  to  receiving  any- 
thing novel  or  sensational  in  descriptive  epithet.  The  same- 
ness may  have  palled  at  times,  but  it  certainly  had  the  effect 
that  old  friends  have,  and  on  this  ground  was  given  a  hearty 
welcome. 

lY. 

Similes  and  Metajphors  drawn  from  The  Mineral  Kingdom. 

It  has  been  remarked  before,  and  we  shall  probably  have  oc- 
casion to  remark  again,  that  no  division  of  our  subject  can  be 
exhaustive.  The  subdivisions  will  be  found  to  overlap,  and  no 
nice  discrimination  will  entirely  satisfy  the  mind  as  to  which 
section  particular  figures  should  be  assigned  to.  There  is  no 
reason,  for  example,  why  the  figures  drawn  from  gold  and  sil- 
ver should  not  be  included  in  the  present  instead  of  the  last 
chapter,  and  indeed  their  position  at  the  head  of  the  mineral 
world  seemed  to  exact  such  an  allotment;  the  idea  of  colour 
is,  however,  so  strong  in  these  similes,  that  no  treatment  but 

*  Kipples — rafters. 


46  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

the  one  followed  seemed  either  desirable  or  possible.  Strong 
though  the  temptation  may  be  to  place  these  figures  under  any 
other  division  of  the  subject,  it  is  hoped  that  in  the  main  the 
distribution  here  used  will  not  be  found  unsatisfactory. 

The  subdivisions  in  this  chapter,  which  is  itself  a  subdi- 
vision, if  we  exclude  the  bulk  of  gold  and  silver  similes,  are 
twofold : 

(a).  Figures  from  Crystal  and  Precious  Stones  (except  the 
ruby) ; 

{13).  Miscellaneous,  including  a  few  figures  from  gold. 


(a).  Figures  drawn  from  crystal  are  not  rare.  We  will 
quote  a  few : 

Witness,  ye  groves  and  chrystal  streams. 

— The  Damosel's  Complaint,  77  (ii,  387). 

The  crystal  tears  ran  down  her  face. 

—The  Gruel  Black,  81  (iii,  373). 

With  chrystal  water  all  in  her  bright  eyes. 
—The  Blind  Beggar's  Daughter  of  Bednall  Green,  66  (iv,  171). 

His  eyes  like  crystal  clear. 

— Lord  TJwinas  of  Winesberry,  46  (iv,  307). 

His  eyes  they  were  as  cleare 
As  christall  stone,  hey  ho. 

—By  Landsdale  Hey  Ho,  85-36  (v,  432). 

The  blood  within  her  cristall  cheeks. 

— Fair  Rosamond,  13  (vii,  284). 

"  Cristall "  as  an  epithet  for  cheeks,  seems  hardly  good.  In 
the  same  poem  occurs  the  silver-j)earled  dew,  adversely  noted, 
and  which  is  found  nowhere  else.  It  does  not  lighten  the 
general  doubt  as  to  the  worth  of  this  ballad. 

And  from  her  cleare  and  cristall  eyes 

The  tears  gusht  out  apace, 
Which,  like  the  silver-pearled  deaw,  etc. 

—Fair  Rosamond,  69-71  (vii,  286). 

It  will  be  seen  that  all,  or  nearly  all,  of  these  examples  are 
taken  from  the  ballads  of  a  certain  period,  when  ballad-writing 
was  descending  into  ballad-mongering.  The  authors  of  Gil 
Morice  and  Fair  Annet  had  no  time  to  waste  on  such  puerilities. 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  47 

Expressions  from  jewels  are  not  common  in  the  ballads, 
except  for  the  metaphor  "  jewel "  applied  affectionately  to 
people. 

Ye've  taken  the  timber  out  of  my  ain  wood, 
And  burnt  my  ain  dear  jewel. 

— Lady  Marjorie,  77-78  (ii,  341). 

Te're  welcome,  jewel,  to  your  own. 

—  Yoxing  Beiclian  and  Susie  Pye,  164  (iv,  9). 

Ye  are  my  jewel. 
— Blancheflour  and  Jelly florice,  85  (iv,  298). 

Cum  well,  cum  wae,  my  jewels  fair. 

—Edam  o'  Gordon,  63  (vi,  157). 
Somewhat  differently, 

Her  comely  eyes,  like  orient  pearles. 

— Fair  Eosamond,  11  (vii,  284). 

Compare  also  the  expression  "  silver-pearled  deaw  "  already 
quoted. 

And  this  good  metaphor,  once  used  : 

Seeking  still  for  that  pretious  stone, 
The  worde  of  trueth,  so  rare  to  find. 
—The  Duchess  of  Suffolk's  Calamity,  33-34  (vii,  300). 

(/S).  We  cannot  better  begin  in  this  division  than  by  intro- 
ducing the  reader  to  a  pun,  the  first  and  perhaps  the  last  he 
will  meet  in  the  course  of  the  present  investigation.  The  word 
"  mettled  "  in  the  following  quotation  is  originally  metaphori- 
cal, mettle  in  the  sense  of  spirit  being  the  same  word  as 
"  metal,"  temper  of  metal,  etc. 

In  manhood  he's  a  mettled  man, 
And  a  mettle-man  by  trade. 

—Robin  Hood  and  the  Tinker,  157-158  (v,  237). 

Two  figures  from  gold  that  do  not  seem  to  have  an  idea  of 
colour  are  the  following  : 

Golden  fame  did  thunder, 
—Tlie  King  of  France's  Daughter,  176  (iv,  223) ; 

and  this  rather  better  one  : 

That  he  thought  it  to  be  but  a  meer  golden  dream. 

— The  Frolicsome  Duke,  56  (viii,  58). 


48  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

Other  solitary  instances  of  comparisons  with  the  mineral 
world  are  these  : 

His  skin  more  hard  than  brass  was  found. 

— St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  29  (i,  73). 

And  all  hir  body  lyke  the  lede. 

—Thomas  of  Ersseldmme,  96  (i,  103). 

It  is  your  lady's  heart's  blood  ; 
'Tis  as  clear  as  the  lamer  (amber). 

—Lamkin,  87-88  (iii,  98). 

Suminary. — The  only  figures  of  frequent  occurrence  under 
this  head  are  the  application  of  the  word  crystal  to  water  and 
tears,  and  the  metaphor  jewel  in  addressing  or  speaking  of 
beloved  persons.  Others,  although  they  are  not  striking,  are 
used  too  seldom  to  prove  anything. 


V. 

Similes  and  Metaphors  drawn  from  Fire  and  its  Character- 
istics. 

The  qualities  of  fire  have  long  been  celebrated  in  popular 
simile.  "  Hot  as  fire,"  "  red  as  fire,"  are  customary  expressions. 
In  addition  to  this  the  brightness  of  fire  is  apparent  to  all. 
AVith  obvious  figures  drawn  from  this  last  source,  we  will  begin 
the  discussion  of  fire  similes. 

For  the  eyes  that  beene  in  his  head 
They  glister  as  doth  the  gleed.  * 

— King  Arthur  and  Cornwall^  110-111  (i,  236). 
As  bright  as  fyre  and  brent 

—Sir  Cauline,  148  (iii,  180). 

(Percy's  emendation  of  the  folio  line  "  harder  than  ffyer,  and 
brent ") ; 

His  armor  glytteryde  as  dyd  a  glede. 

— The  Uunting  of  the  Cheviot,  57  (vii,  32). 
The  moon  shone  like  the  gleed. 

— Glenkindie,  76  (ii,  12). 
When  Thomas  came  before  the  king 
He  glanced  like  the  fire. 

— Lord  Thomas  of  Winesberry,  43-44  (iv,  307). 
*  Gleed— A.  S.  Gled— a  burning  coal. 


IN  THE   EN-GLISH  AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  49 

The  rapidity  of  movement  in  fire,  and  particularly  in 
sparks,  serves  also  for  the  fomidation  of  several  figures  in 
the  ballads. 

And  then  he  will  spring  forth  of  his  hand, 
As  sparks  dothe  out  of  gleede. 

— King  Arthur  and  Cornwall,  261-262  (i,  243). 
The  Lindsays  flew  like  fire  about. 

—The  Battle  of  Otterbourne,  B,  115  (vii.  24). 

The  similarity  of  rumour  to  a  raging  flame  is  a  common 
basis  for  simile  and  metaphor.  In  the  ballads,  this  idea  is  ap- 
parent in  the  following : 

But  lords  and  ladies  blazed  the  fame. 

—The  Seven  Champions,  237  (i,  93). 

And  conversely, 

Whos  prais  sould  not  be  smored  (smothered). 

—The  Battle  of  Balrinnes,  222  (vii,  226). 

The  spark,  with  its  brilliant,  short-lived  existence,  serves 
here  as  elsewhere  for  a  figurative  illustration  of  life  itself. 

Nay  spark  o'  life  was  there. 

— The  Lass  of  Lochroyan,  144  (ii,  112). 

The  flame  of  love  and  the  flame  of  anger  are  ideas 
known  to  all.     They  are  used  as  follows  in  the  popular  poetry : 

Which  set  the  lord's  heart  on  fire. 

— Patient  Grissell,  8  (Iv,  208). 

The  noble  marquess  in  his  heart  felt  such  flame. 

—Ibid.,  19  (iv,  209). 

Till  his  heart  was  set  on  fire. 

—The  King  of  France's  Daughter,  151  (iv,  221). 

Long  was  his  heart  inflamed. 

—Ibid.,  158  (iv,  222). 

How  oft  she  tried  to  drown  the  flame. 

—Tlie  Hireman  Chiel,  69  (viii,  235). 

Save  only  Dido's  boyling  brest. 

—  Queen  Dido,  36  (viii,  209). 


50  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 


In  the  last,  however,  the  idea  is  transferred  from  fire  to  its 

[ect. 
theme  : 


effect.     More  at  length  is  the  following  variation  of  the  same 


But  love  is  a  durable  fire, 

In  the  mind  ever  burning  ; 
Never  sick,  never  dead,  never  cold. 

From  itself  never  turning. 

— As  I  came  from  Walsing7iam,  41-44  (iv,  194). 

Perhaps    the    fore-runner,   at    all    events   the    prototype,    of 
Romeo's 

Love  is  a  smoke  raised  with  the  fume  of  sighs, 
Cold  fire,  sick  health,  etc. 

The  flame  of  anger   and  of  high  courage,  often  akin   to 

anger : 

Then  Seaton  started  till  his  foot, 
The  fierce  flame  in  his  e'e. 

— Lord  Livingston,  39-40  (iii,  344). 

Whose  grisly  looks  and  eyes  like  brands. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Stranger,  57  (v,  412). 

His  een  glittering  for  anger  like  a  fiery  gleed. 

—Tlte  Fray  of  Suport,  22  (vi,  117). 

But  he  was  haU  and  het  as  fire. 

—The  Raid  of  Reidswire,  38  (vi,  133). 

With  wrath  as  hot  as  fire. 

—The  Wanton  Wife  of  Bath,  104  (viii,  15G). 

These  two  last  similes  are  the  only  instances,  so  far  as 
known,  of  the  use  in  the  ballads  of  the  colloquial  "  hot  as  fire." 
The  contrary  "  cold  as  ice  "  does  not  occur.     Once  more  : 

But  now  as  the  knight  in  choler  did  burn. 

—Sir  Eglamore  21  (viii,  197). 

The  idea  of  heat  in  wrath  is  too  common  to  need  further  ex- 
ploiting here.  By  way  of  contrast  the  cold  of  fear  or  depres- 
sion may  be  introduced  : 

« 

Their  hearts  within  them  waxed  cold. 

—Samson,  62  (viii,  203). 


IN"   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  51 

The  value  of  the  record  demands  the  introduction  at  this  point 
of  the  following  bit  of  laboured  verse,  too  puerile  to  be  a  pro- 
duction of  the  best  ballad  school : 

All  which  incens'd  his  lady  so, 

She  burnt  with  wrath  extreame  ; 
At  length  the  fire  that  long  did  glow^ 

Burst  forth  into  a  flame. 

—The  Spanish  Virgin,  41-44  (iii,  362). 

The  accumulation  of  epithets  here  is  worthy  of  a  better  cause. 

The  smoke  of  wrath  is  also  expressed  in  the  following  hint  of 
personification  : 

Thoult  see  my  sword  with  furie  smoke. 
— Eobin  Hood  and  the  Farmer's  Daughter,  79  (v,  338). 

Unclassified  forms  are  these  solitary  instances  : 

The  battle  grows  hot  on  every  side. 

—Fragment,  17  (v,  409). 

Joy  shone  within  his  face. 

—Eobin  Hood  and  the  Stranger,  102  (v,  413). 

[Shone  like  fire  ?] 

At  every  stroke  he  made  him  to  smoke, 
As  if  he  had  been  all  on  fire. 

—Robin  Hood  and  Little  -John,  71-72  (v,  219). 

The  comparison  of  gold  to  a  hui'ning  mass  is  also  used,  and  for 
that  reason  is  introduced  here  instead  of  under  the  chapter  on 
colour-similes. 

Twa  heads.     .     .     . 

Lady  Maisry's  like  the  mo'ten  goud. 

— Lord  TF«'  Yates  and  Ai.i I  Ingram,  111  (ii,  330). 

And  mantel  of  the  burning  goud. 

—  Young  Waters,  11  (iii,  89). 

And,  finally,  there  may  be  a  suggestion  of  simile  in  the 
epithet  red-hoi  in  the  following,  although  it  is  probable  the 
author  had  no  such  intent : 

A  red-hot  gad  o'  aim. 

—  The  Young  Tamlane,  16G  (i,  122). 


52  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

Summary. — The  figures,  then,  from  the  domain  of  fire,  tliat 
seem  to  belong  indisputably  to  the  British  popular  mind,  are 
snch  as  arise  from  the  brightness  and  rapidity  of  flame  and 
sparks — "  glittering  like  the  gleed,"  "  flies  as  doth  the  spark," 
etc. ;  and  by  metaphor,  the  flame  of  nature  is  transferred  to 
the  fla;ne  of  love  or  the  passion  of  anger.  These  figures  are 
surely  one  indication  of  the  popular  origin  of  any  poem,  and 
as  such  are  offered  here  without  reserve. 


B. 

Simile   and    Metaphor   dkawn    fkom    Animals    and    their 

Characteristics. 

The  figures  in  this  domain  Mall  be  found,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  to  fall  under  the  same  general  description  as  those  in 
the  preceding  division  of  the  subject.  They  are  obvious  and 
such  as  would  appeal  to  one  who  looked  at  nature  objectively. 
There  is  no  severe  attempt,  as  in  the  great  poets,  to  fit  pheno- 
mena into  a  definition  and  scheme  of  life.  For  the  balladists, 
the  animals  exist  with  certain  strong  appetites  and  habits,  and 
from  mere  surface  traits  the  fiofures  are  drawn.  There  is  no 
subjection  of  animal  life  to  man  ;  in  other  words,  no  evidence 
in  the  ballads  of  Man  Thinking.  The  similes  shew  the  sti-onger, 
less  attractive  side  of  what  may  be  called  the  animal  charac- 
ter; to  cite  one  case  in  several,  "  dog"  is  used  throughout  only 
in  a  contemptuous  sense,  with  no  recognition,  apparently,  of 
the  animal's  nobler  qualities. 

Having  acknowledged  this  fact,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  classi- 
fying the  figures.  For  the  purposes  of  the  present  paper,  the 
similes  and  metaphors  derived  from  animals  and  their  charac- 
teristics may  be  divided  as  follows  : 

I.     Similes  and  Metaphors  drawn  from  Quadruped  Life. 
IT.     Similes  and  Metaphors  drawn  from  Bird  Life. 

III.  Similes  and  Metaphors  drawn  from  Creeping  Things 

and  Things  that  Live  in  the  Water. 

IV.  Similes  and  Metaphors  drawn  from  Insect  Life. 


IN  THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  53 

The  first  of  these  divisions  will  be  found  to  yield  the  most 
fruitful  results,  and  the  fourth  the  most  meagre ;  hut  this  is, 
perhaps,  from  the  nature  of  the  subject,  inevitable. 


Shniles  and  MetajpKors  drawn  from  Quadrujjed  Life. 

The  figures  in  this  subdivision  represent 

(a)  The  better  qualities  of  strength  and  courage,  and  of 
lightness  and  grace ; 

(/9)  The  meaner  qualities  that  excite  the  contempt  of  man, 

(7)  Miscellaneous  qualities. 

All  will  be  found  to  fall  under  these  heads,  and  under  these 
heads  they  will  now  be  taken  up  in  order.  It  may  be  remarked 
once  more,  that  there  is  no  effort  from  first  to  last,  on  the  part 
of  the  balladists,  to  pourtray  sympathetically  and  with  under- 
standing the  motives  of  animal  life. 

(a)  The  great  examples  of  strength  seem  always  to  have  been 
the  boar,  the  lion,  and  the  tiger;  and  the  English 
bards,  true  to  tradition,  although  they  knew  nothing  of  some  of 
the  animals  in  question,  have  preserved  the  similes  derived  there- 
from, in  their  works.     The  following  group  needs  no  comment : 

They  buckled  then  together  so, 
Like  two  wild  boars  rashing. 

— Sir  Lancelot  du  Lake,  109-110  (i,  60). 

Then  Robin  raged  like  a  wild  boar. 

— BoUn  Hood  and  the  Tanner,  69  (v,  226;. 

And  about  and  about  and  about  they  went 
Like  two  wild  boars  in  a  chase. 

—Ibid.,  73-74  (v,  226). 

Like  two  wild  boars  so  fierce. 

—The  Dragon  of  Wantley,  123  (viii,  133). 

Like  lions  mov'd  they  laid  on  load. 

—Chevy  CJiace,  123  (vii,  48). 

As  lyounes  does  poore  lambes  devoure, 
With  bloodie  teethe  and  naillis. 

—The  Battle  of  Balrinnes,  101-102  (vii,  222). 


54  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 


The  M'Gregors  fought  like  lyons  bold. 

— Bonny  John  Seton,  45  (vii,  237). 

And  with  her  husband  thus  they  past, 
Like  lambs  beset  with  tygers  wild. 

—  Thomas  Stukeley,  129-130  (vii,  303). 

And  rid  up  as  fierce  as  tygers. 

— The  Reading  Skirmish,  45  (vii,  245). 


The  following  solitary  instances  occur  : 

But  Ethert  Lunn,  a  baited  bear, 
Had  many  battles  seen. 

—Auld  Maitland,  193-194  (vi,  228). 

Like  to  a  wolf  to  worried  be. 

— Macjyherson' s  Bant,  11  (vi,  267). 

The  lightness  and  grace  of  deer ,  etc.,  are  the  next  subject  for 
discussion  ;  and  here  we  find  many  ballad  examples  in  proof. 

Lyk  hartes,  up  howes  and  hillis  thei  ranne. 

—The  Battle  of  Balrines,  289  (vii,  229). 

For  she  is  wel  shapyn,  as  lizt  as  a  ra. 

— The  Turnament  of  Tottenham,  129  (viii,  110). 

Like  wounded  harts  chas'd  all  the  day. 
^  — Armstrong  and  Musgrave,  62  (viii,  244). 

The  deer  that  ye  hae  hunted  lang, 
Then  Hobie  Noble  is  that  deer  ! 

—Hobie  NohU,  55-57  (vi,  101). 

This  Frenshe  com  to  Flaundres  so  liht  so  the  hare. 

— The  Flemish  Insurrection,  81  (vi,  272). 

In  this  connexion  perhaps  we  may  introduce  : 

Herof  habbeth  the  Flemyishe  suithe  god  game. 

—Bid.,  125. 

(yS)  The  meaner  qualities  of  animals  are  generally  summed 
up,  in  the  ballads,  in  the  words  swine,  dog,  and  ass.  The 
first  of  these  is  very  frequently  found  to  express  drunkenness, 
and  suggests  the  antiquitj-  of  the  salient  slang  usage  of  to-day. 

Until  they  were  a'  deadly  drunk 
As  any  wild-wood  swine. 

—Fause  Goodrage,  03-64  (iii,  43). 


IlSr   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  55 

Till  she  got  him  as  deadly  drunk 
As  ony  unhallowed  swine. 

—  Young  Hunting,  39-40  (iii,  29G). 

Another  familiar  use  is  the  following  : 

Then  sleep  and  snore  like  ony  sow. 

—Earl  Richard  (B)  180  (iii,  273). 

Observe,  too,  this  group  of  similes  : 

She's  laid  him  on  a  dressing-table 
And  stickit  him  like  a  swine. 

—Hugh  of  Lincoln,  27-28  (iii,  139). 

And  in  a  similar  expression  in  a  different  version  of  the  same 

ballad : 

And  dress'd  him  like  a  swine. 

—Sir  Hugh,  33  (iii,  143). 

Again, 

Hue  leyyen  y  the  stretes,  ystyked  ase  sywn. 

— The  Flemish  Insurrection,  43  (vi,  271). 

The  impression  derived  from  the  ballad  similes  and  meta- 
phors from  d  o  g  s  is  similar.     The  showing,  besides,  is  large. 

That  ye  drew  up  wi'  an  English  dog. 

— Lady  Maisry,  55  (ii,  83). 

That  have  trepan'd  our  kind  Scotchman, 
Like  dogs  to  ding  them  down. 

—The  Enchanted  Ring,  27-28  (iii,  54). 

This  dog's  death  I'm  to  die. 

—The  Queen's  Marie,  96  (iii,  119). 

'Mong  Noroway  dogs  no  more. 

—Sir  Patrick  Spens,  68  (iii,  340). 

Hunted  and  drove  before  'um  like  dogs. 

—  The  Reading  Skirmish,  58  (vii,  240). 

Have  you  any  more  of  your  English  dogs 
You  want  for  to  have  slain  ? 

—Johnie  Scot,  177-178  (iv,  59). 

The  English  dogs  were  cunning  rogues. 

— Lang  Johnny  Moir,  33  (iv,  273). 

He'll  loose  yon  bluidhound  Borderers. 

— TJie  Outlaw  Murray,  255  (vi,  34). 


S6  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

The  last  is  a  better  usage,  however,  and  carries  no  idea  of 
contempt.     As  much  cannot  be  said  for  the  following : 

It  shall  never  be  said  we  were  hang'd  like  dogs. 

— Johnie  Armstrong,  59  (vi,  43). 

I'm  but  like  a  forfoughen  hound, 
Has  been  fighting  in  a  syke  [ditch]. 

—Hobie  Noble,  111-112  (vi,  104). 

Some  Highland  rogues,  like  hungry  dogs. 

—The  Battle  of  Tranent  Muir,  97  (vii,  172). 

We'll  pay  thee  at  the  nearest  tree. 
Where  we  will  hang  thee  like  a  hound. 

—The  Death  of  Parcy  Beed,  114  (vi,  145). 

Like  unto  dogs  he'll  cause  you  die. 

—Billie  Archie,  28  (vi,  95). 

The  black  Baillie,  that  auld  dog. 

—The  Battle  of  Alford,  5  (vii,  238), 

and  frequently  dog  is  contemptuously  used.  Compare  in  "  As 
You  Like  It,"  Adam's  "  Is  old  dog  my  reward  ?  Most  true,  I 
have  lost  my  teeth  in  your  service,"  and  Shylock's 

You  call  me  misbeliever,  cut-throat  dog. 

—M.  of  v.,  i,  3. 

Once,  at  least,  in  the  ballads,  the  fighting  qualities  of  a  dog 
are  specified  in  contradistinction  to  the  mass  of  evidence  above  : 

But  it  was  now  too  late  to  fear, 

For  now  it  was  come  to  fight  dog,  fight  bear. 

—Sir  Eglamore,  17-18  (viii,  197). 

As  often  in  modern  English,  moreover,  so  in  the  popular 
song,  the  term  a  s  s  is  applied  with  a  contemptuous,  though  not 
necessarily  unkind,  signification.  The  former  feeling,  how- 
ev^er,  often  predominates,  to  the  exclusion  of  anything  else. 

•  Quoth  bold  Robbin  Hood,  "  Thou  dost  prate  like  an  ass." 

— Robin  Ilood  and  Little  John,  33  (v,  218). 

And  Robbin  was,  methinks,  an  asse. 

—A  True  Tale  of  Robin  Hood,  383  (v,  368). 

Why,  then,  thou  drunken  ass. 

—The  Wanton  Wife  of  Bath,  35  (viii,  154). 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  57 

(7)  To  conclude,  beasts  are  referred  to  in  various  scattered 
instances  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Collectively,  they  are  used  in 
these  two  similes  : 

And  now  they  renne  away  fro  me 
As  bastes  on  a  row. 

—A  Little  Geste  of  Bob  in  Hood,  237-338  (v,  55). 

Chessit  lyke  deirs  *  into  their  dens. 

—T7ie  Battle  of  Harlaw,  183  (vii,  188). 

The  characteristic  of  beasts  is  also  referred  to,  without  doubt, 
in  the  following  personification  : 

For  a  cannon's  roar,  etc. 

— Bonny  John  Seton,  59  (vii.  334), 

and  in 

The  rest,  they  did  quack  and  roar. 

—  Willie  Wallace,  72  (vi.  235). 

The  fox,  too,  once  serves  as  an  illustration  for  cunning  : 

The  friar  was  as  glad  as  a  fox  in  his  nest. 

—The  Friar  in  the  Well,  12  (viu,  123) ; 

while  in  one  poem  for  a  special  case  we  find 

You  would  have  thought  him  for  to  be 
Some  Egyptian  porcupig. 

—T?ie  Dragon  of  Wantley,  83-84  (viii,  131) ; 

and  on  the  same  page  (11.  87-88), 

they  took  him  to  be 
Some  strange  outlandish  hedgehog. 

The  enumeration  may  be  finished  with  these  figures  : 

But  bring  me,  like  a  wand'ring  sheep. 
Into  thy  fold  again. 

—The  Wanton  Wife  of  Bath,  123-124  (viii,  157), 

which,  from  its  obvious  origin,  perhaps  needs  no  introduction 
here  ;  the  concealed  metaphor  in 

But  in  all  haste  up  to  us  ihey  flocked. 

—The  Beading  Skirmish,  50  (vii,  246) ; 

*  A.  S.  deor,  animal.     Cf.  King  Lear— Mice  and  rats  and  such  small  deer. 


nS  SIMILE   AND   METAPIIOE 

and,  finally,  the  "  yoke  "  of  Cupid  seems  to  apply  to  the  re- 
ceiver as  to  an  animal  in 

Yet  fancy  bids  thee  not  to  fear 

Which  fetter'd  thee  in  Cupid's  yoke. 

—Sir  Eglamore,  63-64  (viii,  310). 

Such  figures  as  the  following  hardly  count  in  a  general  esti- 
mate of  ballad  figures.  They  are  special  instances,  used  only 
once  ;  j^et  they  are  interesting  as  showing  the  sources  from 
which  ballad  similes  are  drawn.  These  to  be  quoted  are  all 
common  enough  as  sources  of  figure,  except,  odd  as  it  may 
appear,  the  bull : 

His  head  is  like  unto  a  bull, 
His  nose  is  like  a  boar. 

—  Qnceii  Eleanor's  Confession,  69-70  (vi,  213). 


He's  headed  like  a  buck,  she  said, 
And  backed  like  a  boar. 


-Ibid.,  11.  73-74. 


The  same  remarks  apply  to  the  following 


His  life  was  like  a  barrow-hogge 
Or  like  a  filthy  heap  of  dung. 

—  Gernutvs  the  Jew  of  Venice,  9,  13  (viii,  471). 

Summary. — The  figures  most  frequent  in  this  first  division 
of  B,  I,  are  those  that  refer  to  the  resemblance  between  the  war- 
like qualities  of  men  and  the  rage  of  boars,  lions,  and  tigers,  in 
the  order  named  ;  and  those  that  found  similes  on  the  lightness 
and  agility  of  deer.  In  the  second  division  the  epithets  swine, 
dog,  and  ass  are  contemptuously  applied  to  men.  "With  these 
exceptions  (themselves  common  enough)  the  figures  are  spo- 
radic and  of  such  a  nature  as  to  preclude  classification. 

11. 

Similes  and  Metaphors  drawn  from  Bird  Life, 

This  division  will  be  found  to  contain  some  of  the  happiest 
figures  in  the  ballads.  As  was  remarked  somewhat  earlier,  the 
bright  life  of  the  country  and  tlie  woodland  finds  frequent 
chronicle  in  the  English  and  Scotch  popular  songs  ;  and  no 


IN"  THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  59 

feature  of  that  life  is  more  noticeable  than  the  flight  and  song 
of  birds.  This  feature,  then,  is  often  mentioned,  and  usually  in 
a  way  to  rivet  the  attention.  "  As  blythe  as  bird  on  tree  "  is  a 
common  simile  in  our  poems  ;  and  the  allusion  shows  a  careful 
study  of  nature  in  its  gayest  moods.  "  The  gay  goss-hawk  "  is 
also  much  in  evidence.  These  figures  will  now  be  taken  up  in 
detail. 

As  for  the  song  and  "  b  1  i  t  h  e  n  e  s  s  "  of  birds  we  find  the 
following  group  of  figures  in  the  ballads  : 

As  blythe  as  ony  bird  on  tree. 

—  The  Laird  of  Waristoun,  16  (iii,  319). 

As  blythe's  a  bird  on  tree, 

— Blancheflour  and  Jellyflorice,  10  (iv,  295). 

Nae  bird  on  the  brier  e'er  sang  sae  clear 
As  the  young  knight  and  his  ladie. 

—Geordie  (B),  31-32  (viii,  97). 

The  bird  never  sang  naair  sweet  on  the  bush 
Nor  the  Icnight  sung  at  the  baking. 

—The  Duke  of  AthoVs  Nurse,  55-56  (viii,  230). 

The  bird  in  the  bush  sung  not  so  sweet 
As  sung  this  bonny  lady. 

—The  Bantin-  Laddie,  95-96  (iv,  101). 

The  swiftness  of  birds  is  attested  by  some  very  good 

similes. 

And  he's  gone  skipping  down  the  stair, 
Swift  as  the  bird  that  flaw. 

—The  Eireman  Chiel,  31-32  (viii,  234). 

He  has  gone  whistling  o'er  the  knowe, 
Swift  as  the  bird  that  flaw. 

—  The  Hireman  Chiel,  193-193  (viii,  240). 

Once,  at  least,  the  "  swift "  bird  is  specified  : 

When  the  Italian,  like  a  swallow  swift 
Owre  Johnie's  head  did  flee. 

—Johnie  Scot,  101-162  (iv,  58).    • 

The  flight  of  birds  in  fear,  again,  is  the  foundation  of  at 
least  one  simile  : 

And  dinna  flee  like  a  frighted  bird 

That's  chased  frae  its  nest  i'  the  morning. 

—Johnie  Cope,  11-12  (vii,  274), 


60  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

where  there  is  evidence,  in  the  Last  line,  of  the  individual  poet 
working  in  iields  not  common  to  the  general  halladist. 

The  "  gay  "  gos  s -h  awk  also  serves  its  turn  in  popular 
poetry  ;  frequently  it  has  the  added  idea  of  wildness. 

The  boy  stared  wild,  like  a  gray  goss-hawk. 

— Fause  Ooodrage,  131  (iii,  45). 

And  in  the  same  poem  the  father  addresses  his  son  by  the  title 
in  question : 

And  ye  must  learn,  my  gay  goss-hawk. 

—Ibid.,  1.  89. 

Differently, 

He  mewde  hir  up  as  men  mew  hawkes. 

—The  Taming  of  a  Shrew,  87  (viii,  185). 

Once,  too,  a  father  speaks  of  his  son  as  a  cock  : 

My  gude  house-cock,  my  only  son. 

—  Willie  and  Maisry,  46  (ii,  59). 

The  gentleness  of  the  dove  is  proverbial  and  was  a  common 
illustration  with  the  ballad  writers.  It  is  usual  to  call  a  person 
of  such  character  a  "  turtle-dove."     One  example  will  suffice  : 

And  sae  has  he  the  turtle- do w 
With  the  truth  o'  his  wild  hand. 

—Fause  Goodrage,  139-140  (iii,  46). 

Again  in  the  same  poem  we  find  "  your  turtle-dow  "  (your 
daughter.) 

Coming  to  more  direct  similes  under  this  head,  two  shinins: 
instances  arrest  the  attention : 

In  vain  in  humble  sort  she  strove 

Her  fury  to  disarm  ; 
As  well  the  weakness  of  the  dove, 
,  The  bloody  hawke  might  charm. 

—The  Spanish  Virgin,  39-33  (iii,  361). 

The  bonny  dew  likes  na  its  mate 

Better,  my  dearest  Cliil  Ether, 
Than  Maisry  loves  her  brither. 

—  Chil  Ether,  9-13  (iv,  299). 


ITT  THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  61 

There  is  a  distinctly  subjective  tone  to  these  similes ;  a  tone 
that  is  quite  apparent  in  the  following  extract : 

The  linnet  is  a  bonnie  bird, 

And  aften  flees  far  frae  its  nest ; 
So  all  the  world  may  plainly  see, 

They're  far  awa  that  I  love  best. 

— Lord  Jamie  Douglas,  125-128  (iv,  142). 

The  grim  humour  of  the  next  quotation  is  not  bad  : 

The  egg  is  chipp'd,  the  bird  is  flown, 
Ye'll  see  na  mair  o'  young  Logie. 

—The  Laird  d  Logie,  67-68  (iv,  113). 

But  most  beautiful  of  all — somewhat  too  beautiful — is  the 
solitary  reference  to  the  habit  of  the  swan  : 

And  sing,  like  a  swan,  my  doom. 

— The  BamoseVs  Complaint,  52  (ii,  386) ; 

with  which  we  may  compare  Shakspere's 

He  makes  a  swan-like  end,  fading  in  music. 

—M.  of  V.  iii,  2,  44-45, 
and  Tennyson's 

Like  some  full-breasted  swan 
That  fluting  a  wild  carol  ere  her  death. 

Solitary  instances  that  lack  corroboration  in  other  ballads  are 

such  as  the  following : 

His  herd  was  syde  ay  large  span 

And  glided  als  the  f  ether  of  pae  (peacock). 

—AU  I  Tod  on  Ay  Mounday,  19-20  (i,  274). 

Similarly,  from  the  habits  of  the  same  bird, 

I  spread  my  plumes,  as  wantons  do. 

—Jane  Shore,  21  (vii,  195). 

The  flight  of  birds  is  undoubtedly  the  foundation  of 

And  they  loot  off  a  flight  of  arrows. 

—The  Raid  of  Beidswire,  72  (vi,  136)  ; 

and  in  the  following,  the  joining  of  a  certain  useful  fowl  with 
beasts  of  magnitude  is  funny  : 

5The  rest  they  did  quack  an'  roar. 

_-  wane  Wallace,  72  (vi,  235). 


62  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOE 

The  next  is  decidedly  humorous  : 

For  houses  and  churches  were  to  him  geese  and  turkies. 

—The  Dragon  of  Wantley  (viii,  129). 

Finally, 

Hue  were  laht  *  by  the  net,  so  bryd  is  in  snare. 

— The  Flemish  Insurrection,  83  (vi,  272). 

The  birds,  once  more,  are  the  basis  of  the  metaphor 

This  in  our  hearts  we  freely  did  hatch. 

— The  Beading  Skirmish,  27  (vii,  245)  ; 

and  once,  to  twilight  or  dawn,  is  applied  the  striking  metaphor. 

The  dun  feather  and  gray. 

— Reedisdale  and  Wise  WiUiam,  32  (viii,  89). 

Summary. — The  commonest  similes,  then,  drawn  from  bird 
life  are  those  that  refer  to  the  bird's  joyousness,  song,  and 
flight.  These  occur  again  and  again,  and  are  surely  proofs  of 
the  popular  origin  of  any  ballad.  Less  frequent  allusion  is 
made  to  the  goss-hawk  and  turtle-dove  (mostly  as  metaphors). 
Other  figures  are  too  rare  to  be  classified,  and  three,  at  least, 
show  a  subjective  force  and  a  beauty  that  are  indisputable 
evidence  of  their  authors'  individuality.  Altogether,  the  bird 
similes  are  perhaps  the  best  and  happiest  in  the  ballads. 


III. 

Similes  and  Metaphors  drawn  from    Creeping    Things  and 
Things  that  Line  in  the  Water. 

These  figures  are  not  numerous,  and  may  be  summed  up  in 
a  few  words.  They  lack  originality  and  are  such  as  suggest 
themselves  to  the  dullest  intellect.  They  occupy  but  a  mini- 
mum space  in  the  aggregate  of  the  figures  in  the  ballads,  and 
with  few  exceptions  are  used  in  particular  cases  where  nothing 
else  would  do. 

*  Laht — caught. 


IN  THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  63 

One  very  fair    instance   that   recalls  Yirgil's  famous   latet 
anguis  in  herba  is  the  following : 

Thy  fair  words  make  me  suspect  thee, 
Serpents  are  where  flowers  grow. 

—The  Spanish  Lady's  Love,  27-28  (iv,  203). 

Reference  is  likewise  made  to  the  serpent  in  the  metaphor 

"  I  have  a  secret  to  reveale," 

She  said,  "  my  heart  doth  sting." 

— TJie  Qentlemanin  Thracia,  51-52  (viii,  160). 

And  again,  three  times  : 

Where  fear  and  sting  of  conscience. 

—  George  Barnwell,  163  (viii,  226). 

Which  did  his  heart  with  sorrow  sting. 

— St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  57  (1,  75). 

Was  f orc'd  the  sting  of  death  to  feel. 

Ihid.,  204,  80. 

Two  other  figures  in  this  department  are  : 

Auld  Ingram's  [head]  like  a  toad. 

—Lord  Wa'  Yates,  etc.  112  (ii,  330). 

He  stert  up  as  a  snayle. 

— The  Turnament  of  Tottenham,  177  (viii,  112). 

Regarding  creatures  that  live  in  the  water,  we  find 

When  I  come  to  a  deep  water, 
I  can  swim  thro'  like  ony  otter. 

—Earl  Richard  (B),  99-100  (iii,  270)  ; 
and  on  the  same  page, 

I  can  swim  thro'  like  ony  eel. 

In  a  variant  version  of  the  same  poem  occur  the  lines  : 

That  I  can  soum  this  wan  water 
Like  a  fish  in  a  flude — 

•  •  •  •  • 

As  though  I  was  an  otter. 

—Earl  RicJiard  (B),  29,  34  (iii,  39G). 

Summary. — The  figures,  then,  in  this   subdivision   will  be 
seen  to  be  too  rare  to  admit  of  classification  under  a  formula 


64  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

for  ballad  conduct.  With  tlie  possible  exception  of  the  meta- 
phorical use  of  sting,  there  is  nothing  that  invites  attention  or 
sngo-ests  a  settled  usage  on  the  part  of  the  bards. 


IV. 

Similes  drawn  from  Insect  Life. 

Coming  to  the  final  heading  of  animal  life,  we  find  two  sim- 
iles to  support  us  in  making  such  a  division.  They  are  as  fol- 
lows : 

I  count  him  lighter  than  a  flee. 

—Jock  o'  the  Side,  92  (vi,  85) ; 

to  which  may  be  compared  Chaucer's  "  I  count  him  not  a  flee," 
and  the  ballad 

They  counted  us  not  worth  a  louse. 

—  The  Raid  of  the  Eeidswire,  36  (vi,  133). 

The  second  and  better  simile  : 

And  so  they  fled,  wi'  a'  their  main, 

Down  ower  the  brae,  like  clogged  bees. 

—Haid  of  Eeidswire,  119-120. 

To  conclude,  on  this  line,  it  will  be  seen  how  much  less  fre- 
quent in  the  ballads  are  figures  drawn  from  animal  life  than 
those  drawn  from  inanimate  nature.  With  the  exception  of 
the  bird-similes,  again,  they  are  less  striking  and  less  interest- 
ing than  those  under  the  first  great  division  of  the  subject. 


C. 

Simile  aihd  Metaphor  dbawn  feom  Man  and  his  Habits. 

The  figures  in  this  division  will  be  found  to  be  much  more 
numerous  than  in  the  preceding  division  of  the  subject,  though 
not  so  numerous  as  the  figures  from  the  domain  of  nature. 
The  general  characteristics  of  these  figures  are  again  homeli- 
ness and  simplicity.     This  aspect  of  the  ballad  figures  cannot 


IN   THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  65 

be  insisted  on  too  often.  The  similes  and  metaphors  drawn 
from  man  and  his  habits  are  such  as  would  most  naturally  ap- 
peal to  an  untrained  intelligence  seeking  for  resemblances  be- 
tween man  and  the  w'orkings  of  that  intelligence.  Of  the 
subjective  resemblance,  however,  there  is  little  trace.  The 
external  characteristics  of  man,  his  form  and  bearinsr,  the 
members  of  his  body,  etc.,  are  used  as  bases  for  figures  ;  his 
moral  attributes  are  sparingly  treated.  Again,  the  products  of 
man's  ingenuity  and  inventive  power  serve  as  sources  for  fig- 
ure, but  they  are  mentioned  by  the  way,  with  no  working  out 
of  detail  in  the  resemblances. 

To  put  it  more  plainly,  a  man,  in  the  ballads,  is,  perhaps, 
compared,  from  external  traits  only,  to  a  king,  or  an  angel,  or 
a  palmer ;  but  seldom,  if  ever,  is  there  a  figure  arising  from  a 
knowledge  of  man's  moral  nature.  ISTever,  for  instance,  do  we 
find  a  figure  such  as  the  one  already  quoted  from  Coleridge, 
beo-inning 

Like  one  that  on  a  lonesome  road,  etc. , 

where  the  simile  springs  from  a  moral  or  intellectual,  rather 
than  a  physical  resemblance.  A  good  example  of  ballad-simile 
under  this  head  would  be 

Earl  Douglas  on  his  milk-white  steed, 
Most  like  a  baron  bold. 

—  Chevy  Chace,  G5-C6  (vii,  4G), 

where  the  resemblance  is  moral  to  a  certain  extent,  but  tinct- 
ured deeply  by  external  showing. 

For  the  sake  of  convenience,  the  figures  in  this  section  will 
be  divided  under  four  great  heads: 

I.  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  the  Human  Body. 

II.  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  Man  as  Man,  in  Vari- 
ous Relations  of  Life. 

III.  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  Man  as  a  Moral  and 
Intellectual  Being. 

IV.  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  the  Life  and  "Works 
of  Man. 


5 


66  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOE 

I. 

Similes  and  Metajpliors  draion  from  the  Human  Body. 

The  resemblances  employed  in  this  division  are  not  many  or 
striking,  and  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words. 

In  Sir  Andrew  Barton  48  (vii,  58)  we  find  the  epithet  head 
twice  used  as  a  term  for  high  rank. 

Of  a  hundred  gunners  to  be  the  head. 

This  line  occurs  again,  and  a  variation,  likewise,  in 

To  be  the  head  I  have  chosen  thee. 

—Ibid.,  60  (vii,  59). 

Once,  too,  the  familiar  epithet  of  the  sun  : 

But  the  all-seeing  eye  of  heaven. 

— The  Oentleman  in  Thracia,  37  (viii,  159). 

A  similar  figure  : 

Wi'  that  he  vanish' d  frae  her  sight, 
Wi'  the  twinkling  o'  an  eye. 

—The  Courteous  Knight,  131-132  (viii,  277). 

Once  occurs  the  beautiful  metaphor  : 

Until  they  came  to  a  broad  river, 
An  arm  of  a  lonesome  sea. 

—May  Golvin,  19-20  (ii,  274). 

For  completeness,  we  include 

The  Protestants  of  Drogheda 

They  being  but  a  handful. 

—The  Boyne  Water,  49,  52  (vii,  255). 

Figures  derived  from  the  senses  of  man  are  the  following  : 

We's  be  a  motte  into  his  sight, 
Or  he  paa  hame  againe. 

—The  Battle  of  Balrinnes,  55-56  (vii,  220). 

To  counsel  this  lady  was  deaf, 
To  judgement  she  was  blind. 
— Fair  Margaret  of  Craignargat,  69-70  (vii,  252). 


IN   THE  ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  67 

Another  sense  is  called  upon  here  : 

"  Thou  smells  of  a  coward,"  said  Robin  Hood. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Golden  Arrow,  41  (v,  385). 

Compare  Shakspere's 

O  my  ofEence  is  rank  ;  it  smells  to  heaven. 

—Hamlet,  iii,  3,  37. 

The  sense  of  t  a  s  t  e  is  more  fully  represented  : 

And  after  sought  her  lip  to  taste. 
— Eohin  Hood  and  the  Farmer's  Daughter.,  15  (v,  335). 

And,  of  a  sound  drubbing  : 

He  smil'd  to  see  his  merry  young  men 
Had  gotten  a  taste  of  the  tree. 

— BaUn  Hood  and  the  Beggar,  253-254  (v,  203). 

Again,  with  a  change  from  a  physical  to  a  moral  standpoint, 

To  tast  of  that  extremity. 

—King  of  Scots,  etc.,  63  (vii,  lOG). 

Taste,  once  more,  may  be  the  foundation  of 

Widdowes  sweete  comfort  found. 

—  Whittington^s  Advancement,  114  (viii.  171), 

although  we  referred  the  epithet  sweet  in  most  cases  to  B, 
II,  the  discussion  of  figures  from  the  plant  world.  Yet  taste  is, 
conversely,  the  source  of 

Into  a  bitter  passion  he  presently  fell. 

—  Catskin's  Garland,  16  (viii,  173), 

and  undoubtedly  of  the  familiar 

The  cream  of  the  jest. 

—Ibid.,  33. 
The  sense  of  t  o  u  c  h  is  called  upon  for 

To  feel  his  coyne,  his  hands  did  itch. 

—A  True  Ballad  of  Robin  Hood,  207  (v,  362), 

to  which  we  may  compare  Shakspere's 

you  yourself 
Are  much  condemn'd  to  have  an  itching  palm. 

—Julius  Ccesar,  iv,  3,  10. 


68  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOE 

The  kindred  muscular  sense  is  also  the  inspiration  of  the 
following  group  of  figures  : 

Of  comforte  that  was  not  colde. 

—  TJie  Battle  of  Otterbourne,  18  (vii,  7). 

"  This  is  cold  comfort,"  sais  my  lord. 

— Sir  Andrew  Barton,  117  (vii,  61). 

Then  home  rode  the  abbot  of  comfort  so  cold. 

— King  John  and  the  Abbot  of  Canterbury,  45  (viii,  8). 

I  trow,  quoth  she,  your  courage  is  cooled. 

—  The  Friar  in  the  Well,  47  (viii,  124). 

The  figure  by  which  the  heart  in  sorrow  is  likened  to  a 
wounded  person,  or  a  person  that  can  be  wounded,  is  represented 
several  times  in  the  ballads.  These  figures  will  be  included 
here,  although,  very  possibly,  a  better  disposition  of  them  could 
be  suggested.     They  are  as  follows  : 

And  for  his  master's  sad  perille 
His  very  heart  did  bleed. 

—Old  Robin  of  Portingale,  27-28  (iii,  35). 

If  the  damsel's  eyes  have  pierc'd  your  heart. 

— Bobin  Hood  and  the  Stranger,  87  (v,  413). 

But  'tis  the  poor  distress'd  princess 
That  wounds  me  to  the  heart. 

—Ibid.,  91-92. 

When  death  had  pierced  the  tender  heart. 

—Queen  Bido,  67,  (viii,  210). 

Similarly, 

For  hym  ther  hartes  were  sore. 

—The  Battle  of  Otterbourne,  142  (vii,  17). 

Similarly,  too,  perhaps. 

Come,  death,  quoth  she,  resolve  my  smart. 

—  Queen  Bido,  65  (viii,  210) ; 

and 

Their  hearts  were  clogg'd  with  care. 

— Armstrong  and  Musgrave,  76  (viii,  246). 

[Clogged,  "  surrounded  by  a  mass  or  impediment.  The  sub- 
stantive from  the  verb,  not  vice  versa."     Skeat.'] 


I5T   THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  69 

Compare 

Thus  were  the  knights  both  pricked  in  love. 

—Ibid.,  57  (viii,  245). 
Applied  to  the  mind  : 

But  nowe  behold  what  wounded  most  my  mind. 

— Titus  Andronicus,  49  (viii,  191). 

For  in  his  mind 
He  bore  the  wounds  of  woe. 
— King  Lear  and  his  Three  Daughters,  135-136  (vii,  281). 

The  two  metaphors  that  follow  may  close  the  discussion. 
Of  a  lover  occurs  the  line, 

Here  lyes  my  sweete  hart-roote. 

—  Old  Bobin  of  Portingale,  104  (iii,  39)  ; 

and  similarly,  of  the  beloved  : 

Wherefore,  adew,  my  owne  hert  true. 

— TJie  Nutbrowne  Maide,  57  (iv,  146). 

Summary, — It  will  be  readily  seen  that  it  is  impossible  to 
lay  down  a  positive  rule  for  figures  under  this  division.  Sim- 
iles and  metaphors  drawn  from  the  sense  of  taste  and  from  the 
muscular  sense  ("  cold  comfort "),  are  commoner  than  the 
others,  and  seem  to  have  passed  into  a  circulation  real,  though 
limited.  The  use  of  the  "  wounded  heart  "  is  almost  common- 
place ;  but  this  seems  to  be  somewhat  aside  from  the  subject. 
One  thing,  however,  may  be  said  with  certainty  ;  the  balladists 
frequently  drew  on  the  human  body  by  way  of  illustration,  but 
individual  preference  is  more  strongly  marked  here  than  in  any 
preceding  part  of  the  subject,  and  consequently,  within  certain 
bounds,  the  evidences  of  the  author's  personality  are  moi-e 
apparent  than  in  the  ballad  commonplaces  we  are  trying  to 
prove.  These  evidences  result  in  a  freshness  and  a  novelty 
found  in  no  other  department  of  the  ballad  figures. 


70  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 


II. 

Similes  and  Metajyhors  drawn  from  Man  as  Man,  in  Various 

Relations  of  Life. 

The  figures  under  this  head  will,  of  course,  admit  of  great 
variety.  The  callings  of  men  are  so  numerous,  that  the  field 
for  illustration  is  almost  unlimited.  Hence,  we  shall  see  in  the 
ballad  figures  resemblances  drawn  from  man  as  king,  as  noble,  as 
leader  of  armies  and  of  men,  as  commoner,  etc. ;  even,  if  you 
please,  from  what  faith  conceives  man  to  be  in  another  world. 
For  the  sake  of  convenience,  then,  man  may  be  classified  under 
the  heavenly,  the  royal,  the  noble,  and  the  common  man,  and 
under  these  four  heads  will  be  found  the  figures  descriptive  of 
his  habits. 

a.  Man  in  his  Celestial  Aspect. 

The  figures  here  are  of  a  uniform  character,  and  extremely 
simple.  A  woman,  for  instance,  is  called  an  "  angel,"  or  some 
one  is  "  heavenly  ; "  the  illustration  goes  no  further. 

His  bride  followed  after,  an  angel  most  bryght. 
— The  Blind  Beggar's  Daughter  of  Bednall  Green^  18  (iv,  168). 

And  passing  by,  like  an  angel  hright. 

— The  Fair  Flower  of  Northumberland,  13  (iv,  181). 

With  angel-like  face. 

— As  I  came  from  Walsingham,  14  (iv,  192). 

And  as  she,  like  an  angel  bright. 

— Armstrong  and  Musgrave,  113  (viii,  247). 

Beheld  her  heavenly  face. 

— Fair  Rosamond,  146  (vii,  289). 

Somewhat  differently, 

She  much  like  a  goddess  drest  in  great  array. 

—  Catskin'a  Garland,  183  (viii,  180). 

She  seemed  so  divine. 

—  George  Barnwell,  56  (viii,  215). 

One  solitary  figure,  though  it  can  hardly  be  included  here. 


IN   THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  71 

will  be  put  among  these,  the  supernatural  figures,  because  it  is 
too  much  alone  to  be  formed  into  a  separate  class  : 

And  said  it  was  the  fairy  court 
To  see  him  in  array. 

—Katharine  Janfarie,  35-36  (iv,  31). 

And,  quite  conversely, 

He  stamped  and  stared ,  and  awaye  lie  ranne, 
As  the  devill  liad  him  borne. 

—Edward  IV.  and  the  Tanner,  127-128  (viii,  29) ; 

and, 

And  I  kan  nae  thing  she  'pear'd  to  be, 
But  the  fiend  that  wens  in  hell. 

—King  Henry,  23-24  (i,  148.) 

/3.  Man  as  King. 

The  figures  here  are  more  numerous  than  in  the  preceding 

subdivision,   although   still   of  a  uniform  character.     It  need 

scarcely  be  said  that  man  is  used  generically  throughout  tliis 

essay. 

Was  fine  as  ony  queen. 

—  Tam-a-Line,  43  (i,  259). 

But  the  youngest  look'd  like  beauty's  queen. 

—The  Cruel  Brother,  11  (ii,  252). 

Who  like  a  queen  did  appear, 
In  her  gait,  in  her  pace. 
— As  I  Came  from  Walsingham,  15-16  (iv,  192). 

The  bride  lookt  like  a  queen. 

— liobin  Hood  and  Allin  a  Dale,  106  (v,  283). 

Similar  use  is  made  of  the  simile-adjective  royal: 

For  all  his  ryall  chere. 

— A  Little  Oeste  of  Robin  Hood,  162  (v,  66). 

There  rydeth  no  bysshop  in  this  londe 

So  ryally  I  understond. 

— ite?.,  47-48  (V,  82). 

There  the  king  royally,  in  princely  majestic. 

—The  King  and  the  Miller  of  Mansfield,  79  (viii,  42). 

Full  royally  hee  welcomed  them  home.  * 

—Sir  Andrew  Barton,  294  (Folio,  iii,  417). 

*  Percy  Rel.     King  Henry's  grace,  with  royall  cheere 

Welcomed  the  noble  Howard  Home,  157-158  (vii,  69). 


72  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

Princely  is  also  used  in  the  later  ballads  : 

With  princely  power  and  peace. 

—King  Lear,  2  (vii,  276). 

So  princely  seeming  beautiful. 

—Ibid.,  7  (vii,  277). 

A  f  aire  and  princely  dame. 

— Fair  Rosamond,  4  (vii,  284). 

Full  oft  betweene  his  princely  armea. 

— /5id,79. 
7.  Man  as  Xoble,  etc. 

In  the  division  of  man  as  ennobled  and  occupying  positions 

of  trust  we  find  figures  of  the  same  simplicity  and  directness. 

Earl  Douglas  on  a  milk-white  steed, 
Most  like  a  baron  bold. 

—  Chevy  CJiaee,  65-66  (vii,  46). 

At  last  these  two  stout  earls  did  meet, 
Like  captains  of  great  might. 

—Ibid.,  121-122. 

And,  corresponding  to  princely,  the  adjective  lordly  : 

The  king  replied  fu'  lordly. 

—Oeordie,  38  (viii,  95). 

h.  Man  in  Yarious  Conditions  of  Life. 

In  this  subdivision  will  be  found,  very  naturally,  a  number 
of  comparisons  drawn  from  varied  sources.  No  attempt  will 
be  made  to  classify  them,  as  in  many  cases  they  occur  but  once 
in  the  ballads.     Some  of  these  are  the  following : 

And  like  a  palmer  dyed  I. 

—Legend  of  Sir  Ouy,  131  (i,  68). 

Like  to  a  fryer,  bold  Robin  Hood, 
Was  accoutred  in  his  array. 

—Robin  Hood's  Golden  Prize,  9-10  (v,  304). 

All  cladd  in  gray,  in  pilgrim  sort. 

— Legend  of  Sir  Ouy,  65  (i,  66). 

Sporadic  examples  are  these  : 

And  like  a  soldier  buried  gallantly. 

—Thomas  Stukeley,  185  (vii,  312). 

Had  entertainment  like  to  gentlemen. 

—Ibid.,  75- 


IN"   THE  E1S"GLISH   AKD   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  73 

Nay  rather  let  me,  like  a  page. 
Your  sword  and  target  beare. 

—Fair  Rosamond,  93-94  (vii,  287). 

Nor  be  abusit  lyk  a  slaif. 

—The  Battle  of  Earlaw,  39  (vii,  183). 

Two  rather  more  extended  conceptions  should  be  quoted  : 

No  greater  thief  lies  hidden  under  skies, 
Than  beauty  closely  lodgde  in  womens  eyes. 
— In  Sherwood  Livde  Stout  Bohin  Hood,  14-15  (v,  433). 

And  as  oftentimes  he  greets  you  well, 

as  any  harte  can  thinke, 
or  schoolemasters  in  any  schoole, 

wryting  with  pen  &  Lake. 

— Child  Maurice,  Folio,  47-50  (ii,  503). 

The  images  drawn  from  the  appearance  of  women  are  not 

numerous : 

In  troth  ye  sit  like  ony  bride. 

—Jock  0'  the  Side,  100  (vi,  86). 

So  like  an  old  witch  looks  she. 

— Bobin  Hood  and  the  Bishop,  48  (v,  300). 

His  wife,  like  Maid  Marian,  did  mince  at  that  tide. 

— TJie  King  and  the  Miller  of  Mansfield,  60  (viii,  41)  ; 

and  this  peculiar  one  : 

like  to  the  queen  of  spades 

The  millers  wife  did  soe  orderly  stand, 

A  milk-maids  courtesye  at  every  word. 

—Ibid.,  75-77. 

Summary. — Man  as  man,  in  various  relations,  serves,  then, 
as  the  basis  for  many  common  figures.  "Like  an  angel," 
"  heavenly,"  "  royal,"  "  princely,"  "  like  a  queen  "  (nowhere 
"  like  a  king  "),  are  very  frequently  used.  Other  comparisons 
from  varied  sources  appear,  and  of  uniform  simplicity,  but 
they  do  not  admit  of  satisfactory  classification. 


74  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 


III. 

Similes  and  Metajyhors  draion  from  Man  as  a  Moral  and 

Intellectual  Being. 

The  most  frequent  figures  in  this  division  are,  naturally 
enough,  those  that  arise  from  man's  fighting  qualities ;  for,  the 
balladist  flourishing  when  chivalry  was  at  its  height,*  and  later, 
when  border  warfare  was  rife,  would  be  most  of  all  impressed 
with  these  qualities  of  virility  and  strength.  The  gentler  vir- 
tues of  man  are  never  called  upon  to  supply  resemblances  in 
thought.  As  might  be  expected,  these  qualities  would  not  ap- 
peal to  a  rude  minstrel,  and  it  is  only  the  "  clerkly  "  poet  that 
could  leap  to  such  a  lofty  sentiment  as  Emilia's 

Thou  hast  not  half  that  power  to  do  me  harm 
As  I  have  to  be  hurt. 

An  essentially  feminine  mind  such  as  Bulwer's  might  see  the 
superiority  of  the  pen  over  the  sword,  or,  in  fact,  of  any  gentle 
art  over  the  martial  spirit,  but  the  true  balladist,  like  his  north- 
ern prototype,  the  Skald,  delights  in  blood  and  the  clang  of 
arms.  In  these  things  he  revels  and  he  draws  thence,  as  from 
the  chief  source  of  his  inspiration,  the  figures  based  on  the 
moral  and  intellectual  character  of  man. 

Let  us,  then,  begin  with  this  aspect  of  the  case.  The  mad- 
ness of  true  and  transcendent  courage  is  familiar  to  all ;  it  is 
likewise,  in  the  ballads,  the  most  frequent  sign  of  valour.  To 
quote : 

Up  then  sterte  good  Robyn 
As  a  man  that  had  be  wode.f 
—A  Little  Oeste  of  Robin  Hood,  93-94  (v,  103). 

And  raved  like  one  that's  mad, 

So  we'll  leave  him  chafing  in  his  grease. 
— Robin  Hood  and  the  Golden  Arrow,  128-129  (v,  388). 

Then  they  fought  on  like  mad  men  all. 

— Johnie  Armstrong,  73  (vi,  44). 

*  See  Percy.  Essay  on  the  Ancient  Minstrels  in  England,  prefixed  to  the 
Reliques. 

f  Wode.     A.  S.  wud,  mad. 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  75 

Then  like  a  mad  man  Jonne  laide  about, 
And  like  a  mad  man  then  fought  hee. 

— Johnie  Armstrong,  57-58  (vi,  253)  ; 
and, 

The  Camerons  scow'r'd,  as  they  were  mad. 

—  Will  Lickladle,  etc.,  89  (vii,  263). 

It  may  be  as  well,  perhaps,  to  include  in  this  list  of  the  sim- 
iles of  madness,  the  few  cases  where  there  is  no  idea  of  cour- 
age, in  which,  possibly,  there  may  be  just  the  contrary  notion  : 

When  shee  had  taken  the  mantle, 
She  stoode  as  shee  had  beene  madd. 

— The  Boy  and  the  Mantle,  (i,  9). 

They  ran  as  thay  wer  wode. 

—Robin  Hood  and  the  Potter,  260  (v,  29). 

But,  after  all,  the  great  manifestation  or  promise  of  courage 
is  manliness ;  and  it  is  exclusively  of  this  quality  of  courage 
that  the  expression  m  a  n  1  y  (manlic — manlike)  is  used  in  the 

ballads. 

We  will  fight  it  out  most  manfully. 

— Johnie  Armstrong,  60  (vi,  43). 

Withstood  the  Greekes  in  manfull  wise. 

—Queen  Dido,  2  (viii,  207). 

But  Gardner  brave  did  still  behave 
Like  to  a  hero  bright,  man. 
—Tlie  Battle  of  Tranent-Muir,  57-58  (vii,  171). 

The  same  idea  is  apparent  in 

When  we  attack  like  Highland  trews. 

—  The  Battle  of  Sheriff- Muir,  72  (vii,  262), 

and  in 

But  More  of  More  Hall 
Like  a  valiant  son  of  Mars. 
—The  Dragon  of  Wantley,  133-184  (viii,  133). 

And  underlying  the  following  metaphor  is  the  same  notion 
of  martial  spirit : 

I  hold  my  life  a  mortal  f o. 

—The  Merchant's  DaughUr,  etc.,  24  (iv,  329). 


76  SIMILE   AND   METAPIIOE 

III  contradistinction  to  the  conception  of  courage  we  have 
tliat  of  cowardice.  "  Thou  smells  of  a  coward  "  has  alreadj^ 
been  noted.     Compare 

Thou  talk'st  like  a  coward. 

— Robin  Hood  and  Little  Jdhn^  37  (v,  218). 

The  master  with  the  buUie's  face, 

And  with  the  coward's  heart,  man. 

—Huntley's  Retreat,  36  (vii,  270) ; 
and,  slightly  different, 

To  act  a  traitor's  part,  man. 

—Ibid.,  36. 

Next  to  valour,  in  the  age  of  chivalry,  came  the  domestic  af- 
fections. These  affections  are  the  source,  in  the  ballads,  of  a 
few  similes  which  will  here  be  noted.  The  most  frequent  is  that 
of  fraternal  love. 

And  thus  the  night  they  a'  hae  spent, 

Just  as  they  had  been  brither  and  brither. 

—Jock  o'  the  Side,  147-148  (vi,  88). 
They  sat  them  down  upon  one  seat, 
Like  loving  brethren  dear. 

—Armstrong  and  Musgrave,  17-18  (viii,  244)  ; 

and  in  this  satirical  line  of  a  desertion  : 

He,  brother-like,  did  quit  his  ground. 

— Huntley's  Retreat,  71  (vii,  271). 

There  is  little  else  in  this  field  of  inspiration,  so  fruitful  to 
the  modern  poet.  The  pathos  of  the  ballads  comes  from  story 
and  situation  ;  never  from  the  allusion  to  domestic  ties  and 
tender  associations  that  poets  like  Burns  and  Longfellow  have 
used  so  extensively.  The  few  touches  that  remain  will  now  be 
taken  up  in  order.  The  following  are  the  references  to  the 
life  of  childhood : 

For  love  is  a  careless  child 

And  forgets  promise  past ; 
He  is  blind,  he  is  deaf,  when  he  list, 

And  in  faith  never  fast. 

He  is  won  with  a  word  of  despair 
And  is  lost  with  a  toy. 

—As  I  Came  from  Walsingham,  29-36  (iv,  193)  ; 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  77 

and  in  the  same  description  we  have  woman's  love 

Under  which  many  childish  desires. 

Again : 

For  bonny  doo  loves  na  its  mate, 
If  or  babe  at  breast  its  mither. 
Better,  my  dearest  Chil  Ether, 
Than  Maisry  loves  her  brither. 

—  Chil  Ether,  9-12  (iv,  299). 

Friendship  is  once  called  upon  to  supply  a  figure,  in  the  fol- 
lowing, where  the  peddler's  pack  partially  saved  him  from  the 

arrow  : 

Though  the  packe  did  stand  his  friend. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Peddlers,  52  (v,  245). 

Scattered  instances  are  these : 

He  pressede  to  ptdl  frowte  with  his  hande, 
Als  man  for  fude  that  was  nere  faynt. 

—  Thomas  of  Ersseldoune,  131-132  (i,  103). 

And  at  one  sup  he  eat  them  up, 
As  one  would  eat  an  apple. 

—  The  Dragon  of  Wantley,  23-24  (viii,  129). 

"  Robm,"  said  he,   "  I'll  now  tell  thee 
The  very  naked  truth." 

—The  King's  Disguise,  119-120  (v,  380), 

where  truth  is  compared  to  a  naked  man  or  child,  since  truth 

is  as  defenceless  against  investigation  as  a  naked  man  against 

attack.     Opposed  to  this,  man's  clothing  furnishes  the  following 

figure : 

The  lift  *  was  clothed  with  cloudis  gray, 
And  owermasJcit  was  the  moone. 

—Ihe  Battle  of  Balrinnes,  5-6  (vii,  218). 


Also, 


And  clohe  no  cause  for  ill  nor  good. 

^—The  Raid  of  the  Reidswire,  60  (vii,  134). 


The  household  shelter  is,  likewise,  the  basis  of  the  figure  in 
lodged  in 

Than  beauty  closely  lodgde  in  woraens  eyes. 

—In  Sherwood  Livde  Stout  Robin  Hood,  15  (v,  433). 

*  Air.     Icelandic,  lopt ;  German,  luft. 


78  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOE 

Similarly,  the  metaphor  "  quarter  :  " 

The  three  that  remain'd  call'd  to  Robin  for  quarter. 

—EoMn  Hood's  Birth,  etc.,  169  (v,  350). 

Habits  of  men  are  instanced  in  several  scattered  examples  : 

And  thus,  as  one  being  in  a  trance. 

—  Queen  Dido,  133  (vlii,  212). 

And  is  not  to  be  given  away 

But  as  jewels  are  bought  and  sold. 

—The  Northern  Lord,  10-11  (viii,  378). 

Farewell,  my  dear,  and  chiefest  treasure  of  my  heart. 

— The  Merchant's  Daughter,  etc.,  18  (iv,  329). 

There  is  probably  a  radical  metaphor  here  : 

In  merry  Shirwood  he  spends  his  dayes. 

— Robin  Hood  and  His  Huntes-Men,  11  (v,  435), 
and  in 

Thus  spending  of  her  time  away. 

— The  Gentleman  in  Thracia,  83  (viii,  159). 

To  conclude,  the  following  may  be  cited  of  a  fight : 

sayes,  I  will  ordain  them  such  a  hreake-fast 
as  was  not  in  the  North  this  1000  yeere. 

—Rising  in  the  North,  143-144  (Folio  ii,  215). 

Man's  religious  habits  are,  perhaps,  the  foundation  of  the 
following,  although  such  idea  may  have  left  the  word  "  sacri- 
fice" before  it  was  used  here: 

Who  fell  a  bleeding  sacrifice 
To  this  fierce  giant's  rage. 

—The  Seven  Champions,  159-160  (i,  89). 

Pathos,  finally,  is  not  lacking  in 

Left  to  the  warld  thair  last  gude-nicht. 

—The  Battle  of  Harlaw,  333  (vii,  189). 

SumTTiary. — Under  the  moral  aspect  of  man,  the  figures  as- 
suredly admit  of  classification.  The  madness  of  courage  or 
anger  is  common  enough  in  the  ballads  to  pass  unquestioned. 
Fraternal  affection  and  the  life  of  children  are  less  frequently 
in  evidence,  but  both  occur  more  than  once.     Under  the  head 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  79 

of  man's  habits  we  find  several  references  to  liis  commercial 
life.  '-''  Sj>ending  one's  time,"  "  as  jewels  are  bought  and  sold." 
The  other  facts  of  daily  life  are  more  sparingly'  used,  but  the 
few  mentioned  here  are  certainly  common  enough  to  pass 
unchallenged. 

lY. 

Similes  and  Metajphors  drawn  from  the  Life  and  Works  of 

Man. 

The  fisnres  will  again  be  found,  in  this  division,  to  be  of  the 
simplest  description,  derived  from  the  homely,  everyday  pur- 
suits of  men.  There  are  references  to  agriculture,  to  naviga- 
tion, and  other  prosaic  occupations,  and  also  allusions  to  the 
more  primitive  inventions  of  our  fathers.  There  are,  as  well, 
explicit  references  to  the  lighter  avocations  and  sports  of  life, 
and  these  will  be  included  under  this  head.  For  convenience, 
the  subject  will  be  divided  into 

(a.)  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  Man's  Yocation  ; 
(/3.)  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  Man's  Invention  ; 
(7.)  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  Man's  Avocation. 

(a.)  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  Man's  Vocation, 
The  figures  here  are  such  as  would  be  expected  from  an  early 
people  before  the  introduction  of  machinery  and  its  accompany- 
ing refinements.     These  figures  are  drawn  from  many  sources, 
and  none  is  so  common  as  to  degenerate  into  a  class. 

The  three  following  comparisons  to  agricultural  pursuits  of 
a  man  laying  blows  about  him  may  be  classed  together: 

Then  to  it  each  goes,  and  follow'd  their  blows, 
As  if  they  had  been  threshing  of  corn. 

— EoMn  Hood  and  Little  John,  63-64  (v,  219). 

Then  Bland  was  in  hast,  he  laid  on  so  fast, 
As  though  he  had  been  cleaving  of  wood. 

—Robin  Hood  and  The  Tanner,  71-72  (v,  226). 

They  brittened  tham  [the  roes]  als  they  were  wode. 

— Thomas  of  Ersseldoune,  201  (i,  106), 


80  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

although  it  is  possible  that  this  brittening  or  carving  was  clone 
as  if  they  were  "  mad,"  not  as  if  the  victims  were  "  wood." 

In  Kobin  Hood  and  The  Tanner,  the  latter's  calling  is  made 
to  do  service  for  several  bits  of  slangy  metaphor. 

I  will  tan  thy  hide  for  nought. 

—Robin  Hood  and  The  Tanner,  96  (v,  227). 

He  is  a  bonny  blade,  and  master  of  his  trade, 
For  soundly  he  hath  tan'd  my  hide. 

—Ibid.,  122-123. 
And  he  shall  tan  my  hide,  too. 

—Ibid.,  127. 

And  it  may  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  the  balladist,  like 
the  poet,  if  he  says  a  thing  that  pleases  him,  is  apt  to  repeat  it 
as  often  as  possible.  All  poetry  is  filled  M'itli  instances  of 
novel  metres,  phrases,  and  ideas  repeated  as  soon  as  decorum 
will  allow,  by  their  apparently  delighted  authors. 

Another  useful  pursuit  is  typified  in  the  following  naive  de- 
scription of  a  fight : 

Ane  bloodie  broust  *  there  was  brouine. 

—The  Battle  of  Balrinnes,  14  (vii,  218). 

Cooking  is  called  upon  in 

They  hew'd  him  when  they  had  him  got, 
As  small  as  flesh  into  the  pot. 

— Armstrong  and  Musgrave,  149-150  (viii,  248). 

She  would  meal  you  with  millering, 

That  she  gathers  at  the  mill, 
And  mak  you  thick  as  any  daigh  (dough). 

—Earl  Richard,  173-175  (iii,  273)  ; 


and, 


While  others  took  flight,  being  raw,  man. 

—The  Battle  of  Sheriff- Muir,  10  (vii,  157). 


Agriculture  is  the  source  of 

Yet  reapt  disgrace  at  my  returning  home. 

—  Titus  Andronicus,  4  (viii,  189), 
and  navigation  of  the  next  two : 

His  weary  course  he  steers 

Till  fortune  blessed  him  with  a  smile. 

-  The  Seven  Champions,  174-175  (i,  90). 
*  Broust — brewing. 


IN-  THE  ENGLISH   A^B   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  81 

Looke  that  your  brydle  be  wight,  my  lord. 
And  your  horse  goe  swift  as  shipp  at  sea.* 

—Northumberland  Betrayed,  209-310  (vii,  102). 

A  series  of  metaphors  from  the  transferred  meaning  of  scour 
may  be  introduced  here,  although  the  balladist,  beyond  doubt, 
had  no  idea  of  figure  when  he  used  them. 

In  less  than  an  hour,  we  [are]  forced  to  secure. 

— Tlie  Reading  Skirmish,  31  (vii,  245). 

While  Papists  did  scour  from  Protestant  power. 

—  Undaunted  Londonderry,  55  (vii,  250). 

The  Camerons  scow'r'd  as  they  were  mad. 

—The  Battle  of  Sheriff-Muir,  89  (vii,  263). 
And  similarly, 

With  borderers  pricking  hither  and  thither. 

—RookJiope  Byde,  23  (vi,  123). 

This  branch  of  the  subject  may  be  left  with  pointing  out 
that  the  last  body  of  figures  is  again  from  a  particular  related 
group  of  ballads  ;  a  result  that  has  been  noted  in  other  in- 
stances. 

(/8.)  Simile  and  Metaphor  drawn  from  Man's  Invention. 
Here  we  find  reference  to  many  useful,  if  not  ornamental, 
devices  of  man.     Once,  of  self-remorse,  we  find 

And  alace  my  ain  wand  dings  me  now. 

— Lord  Jamie  Douglas,  IG  (iv,  137). 
Similarly, 

Thou  shalt  be  the  staff  of  my  age. 

—Robin  Hood's  Birth,  etc.,  86  (v,  346). 

With  a  sting  in  his  tayl  as  long  as  a  flayl. 

—  The  Dragon  of  Wantley,  11  (viii,  128). 

Again,  of  magical  machinations  : 

fairly  freed 
From  the  enchanted  heavy  yoke. 

—The  Seven  Champions,  118-119  (i,  88). 

"  I  am  a  poor  fisherman,"  said  he  then, 
"  This  day  intrapped  all  in  care." 

—T/ie  Noble  Fisherman,  23-24  (v,  330). 

*  Percy's  wording.     The  Folio  MS.  reads  (ii,  325,  200)  : 
That  you  may  go  as  a  shipp  at  sea. 


82  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

[Jealousy]  is  the  devil's  snare. 

—  'The  Spanish  Virgin,  128  (iii,  365). 
I  would  hae  loclct  my  hert  ^oi'  a  hey  o'  gowd, 
And  pinned  it  wV  a  siller  pin. 

— Lord  Jamie  Douglas,  23-24  (iv,  137). 
I've  lost  my  hopes,  I've  lost  my  joy, 

I've  lost  the  key  but  and  the  lock  (i.e.  my  son). 

—  Graeme  and  Bewick,  167-168  (iii,  85). 

Another  group  is  interesting  as  showing   the  lesser,  more 
domestic  life  of  man  : 

It  was  from  the  top  to  the  toe, 
As  sheeres  had  itt  shread. 

—TJie  Boy  and  the  Mantle,  39-40  (i,  9). 
And  shin'd  like  candles  bright. 

— Lord  Livingston,  26  (iii,  344). 

Delay  not  time,  thy  glass  is  run. 

—Queen  Dido,  113  (viii,  211), 

where  life  is  compared  to  the  hour-glass. 

And  her  skin  was  as  smooth  as  glass." 

—EoMn  Rood's  Birth,  etc.,  114  (v,  347). 

On  four-half  to  honge,  huere  myrour  to  be. 

— The  Execution  of  Sir  Simon  Fraser,  27  (vi,  275). 

When  he  these  lines  full  fraught  with  gall, 
Perused  had  and  wayed  them  right. 

;;   —Queen  Dido,  97-98  (viii,  211). 

And  this  humorous  description  of  a  scold  : 

But  still  her  tongue  on  pattens  ran. 

—  The  laming  of  a  Shrew,  79  (viii,  185). 

The  bell — one  of  the  most  familiar  of  local  sounds — is  used 
a  few  times  in  comparisons  : 

The  wodewale  beryde  als  a  belle. 

— Thomas  of  Ersseldoune,  7  (i,  98). 

The  birds  sang  sweet  as  ony  bell. 

;  — Sir  Hugh  Le  Blond,  1  (iii,  254), 

and  once  with  its  doleful  signification  : 

Into  my  stomack  it  struck  a  knell. 

— The  Baid  of  the  Beidswire,  92  (vi,  135). 


IN  THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  83 

.    Once,  too,  this  odd  metaphor  in  a  contest, 

And  try  who  bears  the  bell  away. 

— The  Duel  of  Wharton  and  Stuart,  36  (viii,  261), 

and  this,  where  years  are  compared  to  chimes : 

And  sexty  yeiris  cowth  ring. 

—The  Bloody  Sark,  6  (viii,  148). 
A  solitary  instance  is 

Full  many  daies  they  measure. 

—Thomas  StuMey,  26  (vii,  308). 

Twice  in  Barbara  Allen's  Cruelty  do  we  find 

death  is  printed  on  his  face. 

—11.  13  and  17  (ii,  159). 
Compare 

And  with  my  teares  writ  in  the  dust  my  woe. 

— Titus  Andronicus,  94  (viii,  192.) 

While  with  their  blood,  the  cause  they  have  seald. 

—  Undaunted  Londonderry.,  49  (vii,  250). 

Other  products  of  man's  ingenuity'  are  noted  once,  as  follows  : 

His  nailis  wes  lyk  ane  hellis-cruk.  * 

—The  Bloody  Sark,  27  (viii,  148). 

Spots  o'  his  dear  lady's  bluid, 
Shining  like  a  lance. 

—Lammikin,  123-124  (iii,  311). 

Once,  of  the  product  of  man's  skill : 

But  he  lay  by  his  napkin  fine, 
Was  saft  as  ony  silk. 

-Young  Waters,  145-146  (iii,  300). 

The  following  belong  here  (both  again  from  the  same  poem) : 

For  thon  must  poxt  to  Nottingham. 

—Robin  Ilood  and  Queen  Katherine,  15  (v,  313). 

She  bids  you  post  to  fair  London  Court. 

—Ibid.,  45. 

And,  somewhat  similarly  : 

And  he  lugged  her  along  like  a  pedlar's  pack. 

—The  Farmer's  Old  Wife,  10  (viii,  258). 

*  Hellis-crook,  a  hook  to  hang  pots  over  the  fire. 


84  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

A  group  of  figures  by  which  a  bold,  saucy  fellow  is  called  a 
"  blade,"  a  "jolly  blade,"  etc.,  perhaps  demands  mention  in  this 
connexion,  although  the  derivation  may  be  disputed.  Compare 
the  two  meanings  from  the  A.  S.  yiaed  (M.  E.  blade). 

"  This  is  a  mad  blade,"  the  butchers  then  said. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Butcher,  73  (v,  36). 

A  jolly  brisk  blade,  right  fit  for  the  trade. 

— Robin  Ilood  and  Little  John,  3  (v,  216). 

Thou'rt  a  jolly  bold  blade. 

— The  Frolicksome  Duke,  59  (viii,  58). 

The  following  are  inserted  for  completeness  of  record,  though 
they  are  of  that  special  kind  of  extravagant  simile,  found  only  in 
describing  some  extraordinary  thing,  and  in  no  other  connexion. 
They  are,  therefore,  of  little  use  in  proving  the  general  ballad 
commonplaces. 

Her  teeth  was  a'  like  teather  stakes, 
Her  nose  like  club  or  mell. 

—King  Henry,  21-22  (i,  148). 

His  teeth  they  were  like  tether  sticks. 

— Kempy  Kaye,  17  (viii,  140). 

Sae  they  scrapt  her  and  they  scartit  her, 
Like  the  face  of  an  assy  pan. 

— Kempy  Kaye,  13-14  (viii,  140). 


Again, 


She  had  a  neis  upon  her  face, 
Was  like  an  auld  pat-fit. 

—Ibid.  (B),  31-32  (viii,  142). 


(y.)  Simile  and  Metaphor  from  Man's  Avocation. 

Play  and  music  and  the  dance  are  the  chief  sources  of  fig- 
ures under  this  head,  as  might  be  expected  from  a  rude  people, 
as  yet  untrammelled  by  convention.  Under  these  groupings  we 
will  draw  up  the  figures  in  order.  There  are  several  instances 
in  which  a  spirited  contest  is  spoken  of  as  a  game  or  play,  and 
this  figure  comes  as  near  to  being  formulaic  as  any  in  the  sim- 
iles and  metaphors  derived  from  man  and  his  habits. 

M'Intosh  play'd  a  bonny  game 
Upon  the^haws  of  Cromdale. 

—The  Haws  of  Cromdale,  43-44  (vii,  236). 


IN  THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  85 

But  long  owre  a'  the  play  wer  playd. 

— Sir  Patrick  Spence,  31  (iii,  151), 

and,  with  variations,  several  times  again,  in  the  same  poem. 

And  left  the  tinker  in  tJie  lurcli^ 
For  the  great  shot  to  pay. 

—Robin  Hood  and  The  Tinker,  71-72  (v,  233). 

[Lurch  (2),  the  name  of  a  game  (F.  L.  ?).  The  phrase  "  to  leave  in  the 
lurch  "  was  derived  from  the  old  game  ;  to  lurch  is  still  used  in  playing  crib- 
bage.  .  .  .  The  game  is  mentioned  in  Cottgrave.  =  F.  Jourclie,  the 
game  called  Lurche  or  a  Lurch  in  game  ;  il  demoura  lourche,  he  was  left  in 
the  lurch.     Cot.     .     .     .     Skeat. 

Shot  =  reckoning,  share,  contribution,  .  .  .  A.  S.  sceotan,  to  shoot  = 
that  which  is  "  shot  "  into  the  general  contribution.  Du.  schot  +  Icel.  skot, 
a  shot,  contribution  +  Germ,  schoss,  a  shot,  a  scot.     Cf.  scot-free.     Skeat.] 

Whence  the  figures  "  in  the  hn-ch  "  and  "shot''  fairly  belong 
to  this  section.  For  shot,  compare  Shakspere  :  "  I'll  to  the 
ale-house  with  you  presently,  where  for  one  shot  of  five  pence, 
thou  shalt  have  five  thousand  welcomes,"  (T.  Gr.  of  Y.,  ii,  v,) 
and  Hamlet's  question  concerning  the  players,  "  Who  main- 
tains 'em  ?  How  are  they  escoted?  "  (Ham.  ii,  ii) ;  likewise, 
Falstaif's  pun :  "  Though  I  could  scape  sJiot  free  at  London,  I 
fear  the  shot  here."    (Hen.  lY,  v,  iii,  31). 

Music  serves  once  or  twice  for  figure  in  the  ballads  : 

Where  we  will  make  our  bow-strings  twang, 
Musick  for  us  most  sweet. 
— Robin  Hood  Rescuing  Will  Stutley,  151-153  (v,  289). 

And  lay  my  bent  bow  at  my  side, 
Which  was  my  music  sweet. 
— Robin  Mood's  Death  and  Burial,  69-70  (v,  311), 

The  fiddle  and  fleet  play'd  ne'er  sae  sweet, 
As  she  behind  her  Geordie. 

—  Gight's  Lady,  137-138  (viii,  290)  ; 

With  humming  strong  liquor  likewise. 

— Robin  llood  and  Little  John,  118  (v,  221)  ; 

That  echo  made  a  dulefull  sang, 
Thairto  resounding  frae  the  rocks. 

—The  Battle  of  Ilarlaw,  151-152  (vii,  187). 


and  (perhaps), 
and. 


•j 


80  SIMILE   AND   METAPIIOE 

Of  the  dance,  we  find  : 

The  Grahams  they  made  their  heads  to  dance. 

—The  Haws  of  Cromdale,  55  (vii,  237) ; 

and,  satirically,  of  a  man  worsted  in  fight : 

He  had  such  a  chauce,  with  a  new  morrice-dance, 
He  never  went  home  again. 

—Flodden  Field,  47-48  (vii,  74). 

Summary. — The  figures  drawn  from  man's  life  and  works 
are  again  shown  to  be  simple,  but  scattered.  As  was  to  be  ex- 
pected, the  greater  number  of  references  are  to  agricultural 
pursuits  and  instruments,  and  to  simple  household  utensils  ; 
and,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the  objects  referred  to 
are  as  various  as  the  poets'  thoughts.  No  classification  is  pos- 
sible, therefore,  under  this  head.  Under  man's  lighter  work  or 
avocation,  we  find  many  references  to  his  play,  and  this  use  of 
"  play  "  for  battle  is  more  nearly  formulaic  than  anything  in 
the  present  division  of  the  subject.  To  conclude,  we  may  say 
that  in  the  domain  of  nature,  and  even  of  animal  life,  the  fig- 
ures of  ballad  literature  run  in  certain  grooves,  which  produce 
similar  results ;  in  the  life  of  man  the  figures  run  in  the  same 
grooves,  if  you  please,  but  the  results  are  different.  The  field 
is  wider  and  the  figures  are  more  "  infinite  in  variety."  All 
this  may  be  but  another  instance  of  the  superiority  of  man  "to 
his  surroundings  in  the  world,  and  in  relation  to  the  animal 
life  about  him. 


METONYItlY  AND  PEESONIFICATION  IN  THE   BALLADS. 

From  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  essay, 
dealing  with  simile  and  metaphor  in  the  ballads,  is  not  inti- 
mately concerned  with  the  other  rhetorical  figures  found  in  the 
same  branch  of  literature.  Yet  some  idea  of  the  old  writers' 
uses  in  this  respect  might  not,  perhaps,  be  amiss ;  and  it  has 
seemed  desirable  to  incorporate  a  few  words  on  the  subject  of 
metonymy  and  personification,  although  no  such  care  will  be 
taken  to  give  completeness  to  the  list,  as  was  attempted  in  the 
case  of  simile  and  metaphor. 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  87 

It  will  be  enough  to  indicate  the  general  usage  in  this  re- 
spect, without  aiming  at  exactness  in  giving  all  the  examples 
under  any  one  head.  All  the  important  instances,  however, 
will  receive  due  attention. 

Metonymy. 

The  most  frequent  form  of  this  figure  in  the  popular  song 

is  that  of  the  use  of  the  sign  for  the  thing  signified.     We  have 

"  crown  "  used  for  kingdom  ;  the  bishop's  cloak  for  the  bishop 

himself,  etc. 

Some  instances  are  the  following  : 

Had  oppressed  the  crowne, 

— Legend  of  King  ArtJiur,  63  (i,  53). 

For  it  never  shall  be  said, 

That  a  shepherd's  hook,  at  thy  sturdy  look, 
Will  one  jot  be  dismaied. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Shepherd,  82-84  (v,  241). 

For  it  becomes  not  your  lordship's  coat. 
To  take  so  many  lives  away. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Bishop,  etc.,  35-30  (v,  295). 

And  the  warst  cloak  *  of  this  companie. 

—HoUe  Noble,  79  (vi,  102). 

When  we  attack  like  Highland  trews, 

—The  Battle  of  Shenff-Muir,  72  (vii,  262). 

[Trews — breeches ;  here — men,  Scots  army.] 

I  will  there  fight  doublet  alane. 

—OigJiVs  Lady,  115  (viii,  289). 

When  he  these  lines,  full  fraught  with  gall. 

—Queen  Dido,  97  (viii,  211), 

Gall  is  used  in  several  other  places,  in  the  same  sense. 

Next  in  frequency  is  the  use  of  the  abstract  term  for  the  con- 
crete : 

There  cam  a  schrewde  arwe  out  of  the  west, 

That  felde  Roberts  pryde. 

—Bobyn  and  Oandelyn,  25-26  (v,  40). 

His  hounds  they  laid  her  pride. 

—Johnie  of  Breadislee,  24  (vi,  13). 

*  Man. 


88  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

He  laid  the  dun  deei^  s  jyride. 

— Johnie  of  Cocklesmuir,  28  (vi,  18). 
With  all  thair  poioer  at  thair  side. 

—TJie  Battle  of  Earlaw,  132  (vii,  18G). 

When' wars  were  done,  I  conquest  home  did  bring. 
And  did  present  my  prisoners  to  the  king. 

— Titus  Andronicus,  17-18  (viii,  189). 

His  lofty  courage  then  did  fall. 

— Queen  Dido,  99  (viii,  211). 

I  was  not  made  their  scorne. 
— Robin  Hood  and  the  Farmer^s  Daugliter,  30  (v,  335). 

Fear  not  the  strength  and  frown  of  Rome. 

—  Undaunted  Londonderry,  2  (vii,  248). 

Another  frequent  usage  is  that  of  the  place  for  its  inhabitants, 
or  of  a  scene  for  the  event  that  took  place  there. 

The  countre  up  to  rout. 

—A  Little  Geste,  etc.,  6  (v,  99). 
As  England  it  did  often  say. 

—Eohie  NoMe,  6  (vi,  98), 
(also  personification). 

Yet  that  unluckie  country  still. 

— King  of  Scots  and  Aiidrew  Browne,  13  (vii,  104) ; 

and  again,  in  the  same  poem, 

"  Alas,"  he  said,  "  unhappie  realme." 

—Ibid.,  68  (vii,  106). 
Till  ane  of  them  the  field  sould  bruik. 

—The  Battle  of  Harlaw,  140  (vii,  186). 

A  slight  variation  of  this  form  of  metonymy  is  that  where 
an  epithet  is  transferred  from  the  inhabitants  of  a  place  to  the 
place  itself,  or  where  the  epithet  descriptive  of  the  effect  of  the 
place  on  its  inhabitants  is  put  back  upon  the  place  itself.  This 
is  especially  noted  in  "  the  merry  greenwood,"  "  merry  Eng- 
land," etc. 

Until  they  came  to  the  merry  greenwood. 

— Robin  Hood  and  Ouy  of  Oisborne,  29  (v,  161). 

For  all  the  golde  in  Mery  Englond, 

—A  Little  Qeste,  etc.,  103  (v,  97). 

The  provost  of  braif  Aberdeen. 

—Tlie  Battle  of  Harlaw,  118  (vii,  185), 

and  various  other  instances. 


IN   THE   EIs^GLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  89 

Yet  another  variation  is  that  of  the  epithet  transferred  from 

the  effect  to  the  cause. 

The  dizzy  crag. 

— Kempion,  41  (i,  140). 

The  weary  warld  to  wander  up  and  down. 

—Son  Davie,  43  (ii,  230). 

And  after  many  wearie  steps. 

— Ihe  Merchant' a  Daughter  of  Bristow,  145  (iv,  334). 

The  tabuU  dormounte. 

—The  Horn  of  King  Arthur,  53  (i,  19). 

He  heard  the  blows  that  baiddly  rmg. 

—The  Outlaw  Murray,  63  (vi,  25). 

The  use  of  the  part  for  the  whole  (synecdoche),  is  thus  repre- 

ented : 

Whose  notes  made  sad  the  listening  ear. 

—The  Cruel  Sister,  91  (ii,  236). 

"  Thou  art  ever  in  my  herde"  sayd  the  Abbot. 

—A  Lytell  Geste  of  Rohyn  Eode,  37  (v,  60). 

The  use,  finally,  of  the  material  for  the  thing  made  there- 
from, is  particularly  to  be  observed  in  the  frequent  employment 
of  "  tree  "  (in  the  sense  of  wood),  for  staff  or  spear. 

But  there  dyed  Sir  Mordred 
Presently  vpon  that  tree. 

—King  Arthur' a  Death.     Folio,  193  (i,  505), 

or,  as  Percy  has  emended  the  passage, 

Then  grimmlye  dyed  Sir  Mordered. 

In  "  Robin  Hood  and  the  Beggar  "  (v,  190,  ff.)  tree  is  used 

several  times  for  staff. 

Similarly, 

But  Inglond  suld  haif  found  me  rceil  and  malt. 

— Johnie  Armstrong  (B),  79  (vi,  48). 

(Meil  and  malt  =  meat  and  drink.) 

Personification. 

In  personification  we  find,  in  the  ballads,  much  the  usage  of 
common  life  to-day.  There  is  the  assigning  of  reason  to  the 
elements  and  to  the  works  of  nature,  and  the  picturesque  pres- 


90  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

entation  of  abstractions  like  death  or  fortune,  as  concrete  real- 
ities, in  most  cases  as  possessed  of  human  form. 

In  the  first  of  these  two  groups  we  find  no  personification  so 
common  as  that  of  the  sea. 

Beyond  the  raging  sea. 

—The  Earl  of  Mar's  Daughter,  134  (i,  176). 
And  raging  grew  the  sea. 

— Fragment  of  the  Daemon  Lover,  32  (i,  303). 

The  raging  waves  did  rout. 

— TJie  Lowlands  of  Holland,  30  (ii,  214). 

Personifications  of  natural  objects  and  of  objects  of  vision 
are  these : 

It  made  John  sing  to  hear  the  gold  ring, 
Which  against  the  walls  cryed  twang. 
— Little  John  and  the  Four  Beggars,  55-56  (v,  327). 

Thou'lt  see  my  sword  withfurie  smoke. 
— Robin  Hood  and  the  Farmer's  Daughter,  79  (v,  338). 

Wae  be  to  my  cursed  gowd, 
TJiis  road  to  me  invented. 

-Rob  Roy,  35-36  (vi,  205). 

Her  bloom  was  like  tlie  springing  flower 
That  salutes  the  rosy  morning. 

— Andrew  Lammie,  5-6  (ii,  191). 

When  the  lilly  leafe  and  the  eglantine, 
Doth  bud  and  spring  with  a  merry  cheere. 

—  The  Noble  Fislierman,  5-6  (v,  329). 

Of  a  ship,  finally,  for  the  customary  modern  "  she  "  we  find 

Hee  is  brasse  within  and  Steele  without. 

— Sir  Ayidrew  Barton,  105  (vii,  61). 

In  the  second  division,  the  personification  of  abstract  ideas, 

the  lively  representation  of  fortune  in  human  form  is  most 

common. 

Till  fortune  blessed  him  with  a  smile, 
And  shook  ofif  all  his  fears. 

—The  Seven  Champions,  175-176  (i,  90). 

In  search  of  fortune's  smiles. 

—Lbid.,  224; 

where  the  poet,  as  in  former  instances,  repeats  his  figure. 

If  fortune  once  doth  smile  on  mee. 

— TJie  Merchant's  Daughter,  etc.,  131  (iv,  333). 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  91 

He  blamed  Dame  Fortune  unkind. 

—Robin  Hood's  Chase,  84  (v,  324). 
Fortune  was  pleased  to  give  us  a  frown. 

—The  Reading  Skirmish,  14  (vii,  244). 

And  (again  in  the  same  poem)  : 

Fortune  is  pleased  on  us  to  frown. 

—Ibid.,  78. 

But  fortune  that  doth  often  frowne, 
Where  she  before  did  smile. 

—Fair  Rosamond,  37-38  (vii,  285). 
The  skies  likewise  began  to  scowle. 

—The  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  73  (vii,  301). 
Heaven  upon  their  actions  dAA  frown. 

— Undaunted  Londonderry,  50  (vii,  250). 

Death  is  also  personified  : 

Pale  Death  draws  near  to  me. 

— Macpherson^s  Rant,  G  (vi,  266). 

When  death  had  •pierced  the  tender  hart. 

—  Queen  Dido,  67  (viii,  210). 

Solitary  instances  are  : 

Yet  fancy  bids  thee  not  to  fear. 

—Queen  Dido,  63  (viii,  210). 

And  did  the  pleasures  of  a  lady  feed. 

—TJiomas  Stukeley,  60  (vii,  309). 

In  honour''s  bed  he  lay,  man. 

—TJie  Battle  of  Tranent  Muir,  62  (vii,  171). 

And  his  lost  honor  must  stiU  lye  in  the  dust. 

— Sir  John  Suckling's  Campaign,  39  (vii,  131). 

"  The  wounds  of  woe  "  {King  Lear,  136,  vii,   281) ;  "  her  fury  to  disarm  " 
{Tlie  Spanish  Virgin,  30,  iii,  361). 

The  personification  of  sorrow  is  also  common. 

Thus  was  their  sorrow  put  to  flight. 

—The  King  of  France's  Daughter,  220  (iv,  224), 


Similarly, 


Sorrowe  wyll  me  sloo. 

—A  Little  Geste,  etc.,  84  (v,  120). 


Hang  care,  the  town's  our  own. 

—The  King's  Disguise,  148  (v,  381). 


92  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

The  following  are  the  personifications  of  day  and  night,  the 

sun,  etc. : 

This  done,  the  night  drove  on  apace.  * 

—  Cliild  Waters,  135  (iii,  211). 

The  day  it  runs  full  fast. 

— Robin  Hood  and  the  Stranger,  6  (v,  410). 

Till  Phcebus  sunk  into  the  deep. 

—Ibid.,  30. 
The  day  began  to  sprynge. 

— Mobin  Hood  and  tJie  Monk,  287,  (v,  13). 

The  general  nature  of  the  metonymy  and  personification  in 
the  English  and  Scotch  popular  ballads  will  be  apparent  from 
the  instances  quoted.  They  are  simple  as  the  similes  and  met- 
aphors are,  yet  they  have  a  vivid  picturesqueness  that  is  all 
their  own,  and  that  the  other  figures  mentioned  often  lack. 
Many  of  the  particular  cases  of  metonymy  and  personification 
occur  several  times,  and  acquire  thereby  a  certain  ballad  pro- 
priety and  authority.  ISTo  attempt,  however,  will  be  made  to 
classify  them,  as  they  are  obviously  somewhat  out  of  the  scope 
of  this  essay. 


SUMMAEY  AND  CONCLUSION. 

If  the  object  in  writing  this  essay  has  been  attained,  there 
will  no  longer  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  number  and  character  of 
the  figures  used  in  the  English  and  Scotch  popular  songs. 
Throughout  the  progress  of  the  present  argument,  special  stress 
has  been  laid  on  the  simplicity  and  naturalness  of  the  figures  ; 
they  are  used  almost  always  for  descriptive  purposes,  rather 
than  for  ornament,  and  are,  besides,  such  as  occur  in  the  pop- 
ular speech  of  all  countries.  It  is  doubtful,  then,  if  to  the  pop- 
ular mind  such  similes  as  stoifi  as  the  wind.,  like  glistering  gold., 
and  inilh-wJiite,  had  any  significance  other  than  that  which 
belongs  to  all  epithets  of  description.  If  a  horse  gallops  fast, 
the  ballad-writer  says  so ;  if  he  gallops  very  fast,  he  goes  as 

""Percy's,  from  the  Folio  MS.  which  reads  : 

thiss,  &  itt  droue  now  afterward 

till  itt  was  neere  the  day. 
(Folio,  129-130,  ii,  276.) 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  93 

"swift  as  the  wind,"  and  that  is  all  there  is  to  be  said  on  the 
subject.  We  have  already  quoted  from  Motherwell  to  the  ef- 
fect that  "  there  is  no  pause  [in  the  ballads]  made  on  the  way 
for  beautiful  images  or  appropriate  illustrations.  If  these 
come  naturally  and  unavoidably,  good  and  well,  but  there  is 
no  loiterins:  and  windino;  about  till  these  should  suscgest  them- 
selves,  .  .  .  and  rhetorical  embellishments  are  unknown." 
To  these  remarks  it  may  be  well  to  add  a  few  from  another  critic  : 
"  [They]  throw  themselves  headlong  into  their  subject,  trust- 
ins:  to  nature  for  that  lano-uage  which  is  at  once  the  shortest 
and  the  most  appropriate  to  the  occasion ;  sjpurning  all  far- 
fetched Tnetaphors^''  etc.* 

Bearing  this  fact  in  mind,  it  will  not  be  unprofitable,  per- 
haps, to  gather  together  the  results  of  our  inquiry,  and  tabulate 
the  figures  that  seem,  by  their  frequent  use,  to  belong  indispu- 
tably to  the  ballad  in  its  purest  state. 

A.  Under  the  similes  and  metaphors  drawn  from  elemental 
nature,  we  find  reference  to  the  swiftness  of  the  wind  used  too 
often  to  leave  a  doubt  of  its  genuineness.  The  similes  still  as 
a  stone,  hard  as  flint  or  stone,  cold  as  stone,  are  likewise  very 
common  ;  and  the  similes  drawn  from  the  rain  and  the  clouds 
are  quite  numerous,  particularly  in  the  battle-songs.f  The  fig- 
ures drawn  from  other  elemental  forces,  such  as  thunder,  hail, 
frost,  etc.,  are  comparatively  frequent,  though  hardly  to  be 
classified,  since  no  two  are  just  the  same.  In  the  brighter  as- 
pect of  nature,  we  find  several  allusions  to  the  sunlight,  that 
schane  hyfore  als  the  sonne  so  hryrjht,X  cis  bright  as  the  summer 
Sim,  etc. 

The  figures  drawn  from  plant  life  are  more  common.  The 
metaphor  by  which  a  person  is  called  a  flovjer  or  a  lily  or  a 
rose  is  known  to  all.  Similes  drawn  from  fiowers  are  also  com- 
mon. From  the  life  of  trees  no  figure  is  so  frequent  as  light 
as  leaf  on  lynde,  or  on  tree.  The  stiffness  of  trees  as  a  charac- 
teristic comparison  for  human  strength,  moral  or  physical,  is 

*  Ancient  and  Modem  Ballad  Poetry.     Blackwood,  61,  622. 
t  Cf.  Chevy  Chace,  The  Hunting  of  the  Cheviot,  The  Battle  of  Sheriff- 
Muir,  etc.,  vol.  vii. 

X  Thomas  of  Ersseldoune,  i,  98. 


94  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOE 

also  found.  Other  similes  from  tree-life  are  met  with,  but  not 
so  frequently,  such  as  GhMiga,ry^s j)ith,  caiikerdly^  cross-grained 
words,  etc. 

In  similes  and  metaphors  of  colour,  nothing  could  be  more 
common  than  milk-white,  white  as  snow,  white  as  a  lily,  white 
as  a  swan,  etc.,  7'ed  as  roses,  cherries,  ruhies,  etc.,  black  as  a 
crow,  and  especially,  shining  like  gold,  and  sometimes  like  sil- 
ver. Other  colour-similes  occur,  but  with  the  exception  of 
herry-hrown  and  nut-hrown,  tliey  are  not  frequent. 

Figures  drawn  from  the  mineral  kingdom  are  rarer.  Degen- 
erate ballads  like  The  DamoseVs  Convplaint,  Fair  Rosam,ond, 
etc.,  abound  in  allusions  to  crystal — "  his  eyes  like  crystal 
clear,*  etc.  The  best  ballads  are  comparatively  free  from  this 
simile.     Tlie  metaphor  y^i^eZ  applied  to  persons  is  very  common. 

Figures  drawn  from  the  domain  of  fire  are  bright  as  jire, 
glittering  like  the  glede,  etc.  The  flame  of  anger  and  of  love 
may  also  be  frequently  seen  in  the  ballads.  "  The  noble  mar- 
quess in  his  heart  felt  such  flame,  f  and  many  other  similar  in- 
stances. 

B.  Figures  taken  from  animals  and  their  characteristics  are 
the  similes  that  compare  brave  men  to  hoars,  lions,  and  tigers, 
and  the  metaphors  and  similes  by  which  the  terms  dog,  swine, 
and  ass  are  contemptuously  applied  to  human  beings.  Tiie 
similes  drawn  from  the  lightness  and  agility  of  deer  are  also 
used  somewhat  frequently. 

The  figures  drawn  from  bird-life  are  of  one  class.  Swift  as 
a  bird,  and  songs  as  sweet  as  a  bird's,  are  the  great  types  of 
comparison.  The  metaphor  goss-hawk  frequently  applies  to 
man. 

C.  Figures  from  man  are  not  so  susceptible  of  classification. 
We  find  with  comparative  frequency  references  to  the  head  and 
eye  and  to  the  five  senses — "  sought  her  lip  to  taste,"  etc.,  but 
the  rules  are  not  absolute. 

Under  the  head  of  man  in  various  relations  of  life  we  find 
the  simile-adjectives  royal,  princely,  etc.  ;  sometimes  expanded 
into  "  fine  as  a  queen  "  and  similar  expressions. 

*  Lord  Thomas  of  Winesberry,  iv,  307. 
f  Patient  Grissell,  iv,  209. 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  95 

Fio-nres  from  man  as  a  moral  and  intellectual  asfent  refer,  as 
we  have  seen,  to  the  madness  of  courage,  the  manliness  of 
courage,  etc.  There  are  also  references  to  fraternal  love,  child- 
hood, and  other  facts  of  life,  but  not  so  often  as  to  degenerate 
into  a  class. 

Under  the  works  of  man,  the  figures  are  too  varied  for 
classification,  but  all  have  a  bearing  upon  navigation,  agricult- 
ure, trade,  and  the  occupations  of  daily  life.  In  regard  to 
man's  sports  we  find  the  comparison  of  warfare  to  a  ganie,  and 
allusions  to  the  dance  and  to  music,  but  with  this  exception 
there  is  little  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  reader. 

It  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  several  ideas  arise  in  con- 
nexion with  this  study  of  ballad  literature  with  special 
reference  to  its  figures. 

(a.)  In  the  first  place  it  should  be  noted  that  simile  is  much 
more  frequent  than  metaphor,  and  that  the  similes  are  gener- 
ally more  elaborate  and  more  novel  than  the  metaphors.  With 
the  exception  of  the  trite  vaQi2i^\\0Y&  flower,  jewel^  dog,  ass,  etc., 
applied  to  human  beings,  there  is  little  comparison  of  this  sort. 
Such  a  result  is,  it  will  be  observed,  the  opposite  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  usage,  where  metaphor  largely  predominates  over  the 
sister-figure  of  simile. 

(/3.)  In  the  second  place  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  the 
figures  vary  according  to  the  nature  of  the  ballad.  The  figures 
in  the  poems  of  love  and  sorrow,  such  as  Gil  Morice,  Fair 
Annet,  and  the  rest  are  quite  distinct  from  those  used  in  the 
Robin  Hood  cycle,  or  from  those  of  the  Arthurian  legends,  and 
all  three  again  are  radically  different  in  figure  habit  from  the 
celebrated  war-songs,  such  as  Chevy  Chace  and  the  large  body 
of  kindred  poems.  What  does  this  indicate?  A  difterent 
origin  for  the  poems,  either  in  time  or  place  or  both  ?  There 
is  a  field  of  inquiry  thrown  open  here  that  may  lead  to  fruitful 
results. 

(7.)  Again,  closely  related  to  the  preceding  suggestion  is  the 
fact  that  ballads  of  the  artificial  type— the  masterpieces  of  the 
mongers— have  a  style  of  figure  detestable  in  general,  and 
easily  detected,  wliich  sprang  from  the  same  sources  as  the 


96  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

figures  in  the  better  and  simpler  ballads,  but  which  are,  never- 
theless, thrown  in  so  abruptly  as  to  take  away  all  semblance  of 
spontaneity  from  the  production.  A  comparison  of  Queen 
Dido  or  Fair  Rosamond  or  The  Cruel  Black  with  The  Ilunt- 
ino;  of  the  Cheviot  or  Gil  Morice  or  the  most  of  the  Robin 
Hood  ballads  will  prove  this  fact  beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt. 

Returning  to  the  classification  of  baHad  figures  made  a  mo- 
ment ago,  we  may  apply  the  test  to  one  or  two  of  the  ballads 
and  note  the  result.  If  it  be  objected  that  all  the  ballads 
studied  have  contributed  to  the  sum  of  these  figures,  and  that 
we  are,  therefore,  but  arguing  in  a  circle  to  apply  to  a  ballad  a 
standard  that  it  has  itself  helped  to  form,  there  seems  to  be  no 
counter-argument  beyond  the  fact  that  each  ballad  is  in  itself 
so  short  as  to  make  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  ballad  litera- 
ture, and  its  effect  on  that  literature  is  therefore  infinitesimal 
in  arriving  at  a  just  conclusion  on  the  subject ;  whereas,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  sum  total  of  these  songs  is  sufliciently  impos- 
ing to  make  a  standard  irrespective  of  any  one  or  two  songs 
that  may  be  subjected  to  the  proposed  test.  Admitting  this 
conclusion,  then,  we  may  proceed  with  the  investigation. 

The  ballad  Thomas  of  Ersseldoune,  unquestionably  a  popu- 
lar production,  has  figures  as  follows : 

Als  dose  the  sonne  on  someres  daye 
That  f aire  lady  hir  selfe  scho  schone. 

And  als  clere  golde  her  brydill  it  schone. 

the  face 
That  schane  byfore  als  the  sonne  so  bryght. 

Thomas  still  als  stane  he  stude. 

They  brittened  them  als  they  were  wode. 

The  wodewale  beryde  als  a  belle, 

which  are  good  ballad-similes,  approved  by  more  or  less  fre- 
quent nsage.  The  individuality  of  the  poet  appears  in  these 
other  figures : 

Als  man  for  fade  that  was  nere  faynt ; 

And  all  hir  body  lyke  the  lede. 
Where  it  was  dirk  as  mydnyght  myrke. 


IN   THE   ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  97 

From  our  hypothesis,  then,  other  things  being  eqnal,  this 
proportion  is  sufficiently  just  to  warrant  tlie  popular  origin  of 
the  ballad. 

The  individuality  of  the  poet,  again,  is  seen  in  the  song 
known  as  "  As  I  Came  from  Walsingham,"  where  we  find 
angel-liJce  face,  and  like  a  queen  did  a/pj)ear,  but  where  also 
we  find 

Love  liketh  not  the  fallen  fruit, 
Nor  the  withered  tree. 


and 


For  lovs  is  a  careless  child,  etc. ; 

But  love  is  a  durable  fire, 

In  the  mind  ever  burning  ; 
Never  sick,  never  dead,  never  cold, 

From  itself  never  turning. 

The  subjective  element  in  these  quotations  is  rare  in  the  bal- 
lads. Figures  of  such  length  are  extremely  uncommon.  From 
the  standpoint  of  figure,  then,  this  poem  does  not  leave  the 
mind  free  from  doubt. 

Bishop  Percy,  with  his  passion  for  "  polishing  "  the  ballads, 
furnishes  a  good  instance  for  modern  criticism  to  deal  with. 
Since  the  publication  of  the  Folio  MS.  (London,  1867),  we  are 
able  to  tell  just  how  far  this  polishing  process  went  on,  and  by 
looking  at  the  ballads  of  King  Arthti7'''s  Death  and  Sir  Cau- 
line  in  the  Reliques  and  in  the  Folio,  we  can  see  how  much  is 
Percy's  own,  and  also,  by  applying  our  standard,  can  see  how 
far  he  was  justified  in  using  the  figures  found  in  the  edition  of 
the  Reliques.  In  Percy's  published  King  Arthur's  Death,  the 
following  figures  occur : 

Oft  have  I  reap'd  the  bloody  feelde  ; 

and 

Before  the  breakinge  of  the  day, 

which  appear,  so  far  as  discovered,  in  no  other  place. 

The  personification,  however,  in  the  following  is  vouched  for 
by  other  ballads : 

Nothing,  my  liege,  save  that  the  winds 
Now  with  the  angry  waters  fought. 


98  SIMILE   Al^D   METAPHOR 

In  "  Sir  Canline  "  we  find 


and, 


Home  then  pricked  Syr  Cauline 
As  light  as  leafe  on  tree  ; 

Two  goggling  eyen  like  fire  farden ; 
Then  shee  held  forthe  her  liley-white  hand  ; 


all    good   ballad   figures,    as   the   learned    bishop   knew.     The 
next,  however,  somewhat  oversteps  the  mark  : 

But  ever  she  droopeth  in  her  minds 
As,  nipt  by  an  ungentle  winde, 
Doth  some  faire  lillye-flower. 

All  these  figures  are  Percy's,  as  there  is  no  trace  of  them  in 
the  folio  manuscript ;  on  the  whole,  however,  he  preserved  a 
laudable  restraint  in  this  matter,  and  in  this  as  in  many  other 
cases,  seems  to  have  merited  less  censure  than  he  has  received. 

"  Fair  Rosamond,"  the  wretched  production  of  Thomas 
Deloney,  is  full  of  figures  that  are  drawn  from  legitimate  bal- 
lad sources,  yet  are  expressed  in  a  style  far  from  the  true  ballad 
style.     Compare 

And  from  her  cleare  and  cristall  eyes 

The  tears  gusht  out  apace. 
Which  like  the  silver  pearled  deaw 

Ran  downe  her  comely  face, 

with  this  from  "  Fair  Annet," 

"  O  open,  open,  mother,"  he  says, 

"  O  open  and  let  me  in  ; 
For  the  rain  rams  on  my  yellow  hair, 

And  the  dew  drops  o'er  my  chin. 
And  I  hae  my  young  son  in  my  arms, 

I  fear  that  his  days  are  dune." 

Here  is  the  difference — easily  seen,  yet  hard  to  define — be- 
tween genuine  poetr}^  and  the  effusion  of  a  versifier.  It  is  the 
difference — without  disparagement  to  the  Roman  be  it  said — 
between  Homer  and  Yirgil,  between  an  original  and  a  copyist ; 
for,  as  in  Germany  the  Minnesinger  degenerated  into  the 
Meistersinger,  so  in  England  the  balladist  degenerated  into  the 
ballad-monger. 


IN   THE  ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  99 

"We  will  carry  this  investigation  one  step  further.  Percy,  in 
his  introduction  to  the  beautiful  ballad  of  Gil  Morice,  tells  us 
that  it  ran  through  two  editions  in  Scotland — the  second  printed 
iu  1755.  "  Prefixed  to  them  both  [he  adds]  is  an  advertisement 
setting  forth  that  the  preservation  of  this  poem  was  owing  to  a 
lady,  who  favoured  the  printers  with  a  copy,  as  it  was  carefully 
collected  from  the  mouths  of  old  women  and  nurses  ; "  and 
"  any  reader  that  can  render  it  more  correct  or  complete  is  de- 
sired to  oblige  the  public  with  such  improvements."  In  conse- 
quence sixteen  additional  verses  were  produced.  We  will  now 
compare  twelve  of  these  with  twelve  of  the  original  poem,  feel- 
ing assured  that  no  amount  of  criticism  could  better  prove  what 
the  ballad  style  is  and  what  decidedly  it  is  not.  The  spurious 
verses  run  as  follows  : 

His  hair  was  like  the  threads  of  gold, 

Drawne  from  Minerva's  loome  ; 
His  lippes  like  roses  dropping  dew, 

His  breath  was  a'  perfume. 

His  brow  was  like  the  mountain  snae, 

Gilt  by  the  morning  beam ; 
His  cheeks  like  living  roses  glow  ; 

His  een  like  azure  stream. 

The  boy  was  clad  in  robes  of  grene, 

Sweete  as  the  infant  spring  ; 
And  like  the  mavis  on  the  bush, 

He  gart  the  vallies  ring. 

Such  a  string  of  figures,  it  may  be  authoritatively  stated, 
occurs  not  once  in  any  ballad  that  is  known.  This  fact  proves 
the  difficulty  of  writing  in  the  old  ballad  stjde;  for  where  a 
modern  poet  with  his  elegant  imagery  would  think  himself 
most  successful,  he  would  actually  fall  farthest  from  the  true 
ballad  custom.  In  an  article  in  Blackwood,  LXXXVI,  24,  on 
Modern  Ballad  Writers,  occur  the  words :  "  It  is  much  easier 
to  fail  in  all  modes  of  ballad  composition  than  to  succeed,  and 
apparently  most  so  here,  where  the  consideration  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  language  of  sorrow  is  apt  to  produce  images  and 
associations  whimsical  and  really  exaggerated." 


100  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOE 

Compare  Avitli  the  stilted  lines  quoted  above  the  equal  num- 
ber from  the  genuine  poem,  and  note  the  difference : 

The  baron  came  to  the  grene  wode 

Wi'  mickle  dule  and  care ; 
And  there  he  first  spied  Gill  Morice, 

Kameing  his  zellow  hair. 

"  Nae  wonder,  nae  wonder,  Gill  Morice, 
My  lady  loed  thee  weel ; 
The  fairest  part  of  my  bodie 
Is  blacker  than  thy  heel. 

"  Zet  neir  the  less,  now,  Gill  Morice, 
For  a'  thy  great  beautie, 
Ze's  rew  the  day  ze  eir  was  born, 
That  head  sail  gae  wi'  me." 

Tlie  true  balladist,  then,  must  be  simple  in  his  use  of  figures; 
indeed,  he  may  omit  them  altogether,  many  of  the  finest  bal- 
lads being  wholly  free  from  such  adornment.  Note  Gil  Mo- 
rice, Fair  Amiet,  Sir  Patrick  Spens,  Cosjxitrick,  and  others, 
where  imagery  is  most  sparingly  used,  and  which  are  yet  the 
best  and  strongest  of  the  popular  songs.  Figure  is,  in  fact,  an 
outcome  of  the  culture  of  the  world,  and  is,  therefore,  met 
with  but  rarely  in  earlj'-  literatures.  To  come  to  English  litera- 
ture, we  can  see  its  development  from  the  earliest  times ;  and 
a  short  synopsis  of  its  progression  may  not  be  amiss  at  this 
point,  as  helping,  perhaps,  to  fix  the  time  of  the  ballad  writers. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  epic  of  Beowulf  contains  less  than  twelve 
similes,  and  those  of  the  simplest  character.  AVe  will  quote  a 
few : 

Gewat  tha  ofer  waeg-holm  winde  gefysed 
flota  famig-heals  fugle  gellcost. 

—Beoioulf,  217-218. 

him  of  eagum  stud 
llge  gellcost,  leoht  unf  iiger. 

—Ibid.,  727-728, 


and, 


that  hit  eal  gemealt  ise  gelicost. 

—Ibid.,  1609. 


Coming  to  Cynewulf,  we  note  in  the  trained  poet  a  vast  im- 
provement in  length  and  force  of  the  similes,  with  a  marked 


IN   THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  101 

advance  in  subjective  beauty.     The  similes  are  still  rare,  but 
they  are  sometimes  elaborate.     One  must  suffice : 

.     .     .     Feoh  ffighwara  bith 
Isene  under  lyfte,  landes  freetwe 
gewitath  under  wolcnum  icinde  gelieost 
thonne  he  for  haslethum,  hlQd  astlgeth 
wfetheth  be  wolcnum,  wCdende  fasretli 
end  eft  semninga  swige  gewyrtheth 
in  nedcleofan  nearwe  geheathrod, 
thream  f orthrycced.     Swa  theos  world  eall  gewltetli 
end  eac  Bwa  some,  the  hire  on  wurdon. 

—Elene,  1270  fe. 

In  the  Crista  likewise,  is  a  very  long  simile,  comparing  life  to 

an  ocean  voyage ;  but  for  practical  purposes  it  is  here  omitted. 

Generally,  however,  Cynewulfs  similes  are  shorter,  and  some 

even  are  as  concise  as  those  of  the  Beowulf ;  note  this  from  the 

Juliana, 

Wedde  on  gewitte  swa  wilde  deor. 

These  are  better  similes  than  we  find  in  anything  till  the  time 
of  Chaucer,  and,  in  fact,  more  sustained  than  those  Chaucer 
himself  gives  us.  In  the  barren  period  between  the  jSTorman 
Conquest  and  Chaucer,  we  glean  the  following  similes.  In  the 
Orm  (about  1200  A.D.)  we  find  comparisons  drawn  from  the 
sacrifices  of  the  Jews,  but  little  spontaneous  imagery  : 

&  forrthi  seghghth  thatt  Latin  boc, 
thatt  thwer — utt  nohht  ne  leghhethth, 

thatt  ure  Laf  errd,  Jesu  Crist, 
inn  ure  menisscnesse 

Toe  thildiligh  withthutenn  brace 

thatt  mann  himm  band  withth  wogbhe, 

Rihht  all  ewa  summ  the  shep  onnfoth 

Meocligh  thatt  mann  itt  clippethth. 

—  Orm,  1183-1189. 

There  are  many  such  similes  in  this  unutterably  dreary  work, 
which  will  not  profit  in  the  repetition;  they  are  preacliing 
figures,  not  the  natural  outburst  of  a  true  poet. 

Layaraon's  Brut,  the  production  of  a  much  finer  poet  (about 
1205  A.D.)  is  almost  free  from  comparisons.     In  the   Ilengist 


102  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

and  Horsa  episode  ("  Morris'  Specimens  of  Early  English  ")  we 
find  : 

tha  wif  fareth  mid  childe 
swa  tbe  deor  wilde. 

—Brut,  85-86 ; 

and, 

nes  the  thwong  noht  swithe  braed  ; 
buten  swulc  a  twines  thraed. 

—Ibid.,  435-436. 

In  the  poem  The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale,  attributed  to 
Nicholas  de  Guildford  (about  1250  A.D.),  we  meet  with  a  few 
striking  similes : 


s 


Bet  thughte  tbe  drem  tbat  be  were 
Of  barpe  and  pipe,  than  he  nere 
Bet  tbugbte  tbat  he  were  i-sbote 
Of  barpe  and  pipe  than  of  tbrote. 

— The  Owl  and  the  Nightingale,  21-24. 


In  King  Horn  (before  1300  A.D.)  we  find  a  collection  of 
similes  that  might  have  come  from  the  ballads : 


Fairer  bis  none  thane  he  was, 

He  was  bright  so  tbe  glas, 

He  was  whit  so  tbe  flur, 

Rose-red  was  his  colur. 
•  —King  Horn,  13-16. 

Finally,  in  the  beautiful  lyric  Spring-Time  (about  1300) 
occurs  one  striking  simile  that  gives  promise  for  the  future : 

Ase  strem  that  striketb  stille, 
Mody  meneth,  so  doth  mo, 
Ichot  ycbam  on  of  tbo 
For  love  tbat  likes  ille. 

"With  Chaucer  we  come  upon  the  beginning  of  the  modern 
art.  The  figures  in  his  works,  by  reason  of  their  simplicity, 
seem  less  numerous  than  they  really  are ;  but  simile  in  his 
writings  has  begun  to  be  the  adornment  that  later  poets  have 
made  it.  In  Chaucer,  therefore,  the  figures  are  still  sharp  and 
direct,  somethiug  like  the  ballad  figures;  they  are,  however, 
modern  in  spirit.     From  this  point  of  view  we  will  examine 


IN  THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  103 

them,  and  compare  them  with  later  productions.  In  the  first 
five  hundred  lines  of  the  Prologue,  then,  we  will  find  such 
similes  as 

Of  his  port  as  meke  as  is  a  mayde ; 

— Prologue^  69. 

Embrowded  was  he,  as  it  were  a  mede 
Al  ful  of  fresshe  tioures,  white  and  rede ; 


and. 


He  was  as  fressh  as  is  the  moneth  of  May. 

—Ibid.,  89-92  ; 

men  might  his  bridel  heere 
Gyngle  in  a  whistlying  wynd  so  cleere, 
And  eek  as  lowde  as  doth  the  chapel  belle. 

—Ibid.,  169-171. 

There  is  nothing  more  elaborate  than  these  few  instances. 
The  general  character  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  ballads,  and 
there  is  just  as  little  of  the  subjective  element  as  in  the  popular 
song. 

Three  instances  must  suffice  between  Chaucer  and  Spenser. 

William  Dunbar,  The  Thrissell  and  the  Rois,  Stanza  8, 

The  purpour  sone,  with  tendir  bemys  reid. 
In  orient  bricht  as  angell  did  appeir, 
Throw  goldin  skyis  putting  up  his  heid, 
Quhois  gilt  tressis  schone  so  wondir  cleir.       « 

Surrey,  in  The  Faithful  Lover  : 

Then  as  the  stricken  deer  withdraws  himself  alone, 

So  do  I  seek  some  secret  place,  where  I  may  make  my  moan  ; 

and  Wyatt  makes  the  following  simile  a  complete  poem  : 

From  these  hie  hillea  as  when  a  spring  doth  fall, 

It  trilleth  downe  with  stiU  and  suttle  course. 

Of  this  and  that  it  gathers  ay,  and  shall 

Till  it  have  iust  downflowed  to  stream  and  force, 

Then  at  the  fote  it  rageth  over  all, 

So  fareth  loue,  when  he  has  tane  a  sourse, 

Rage  is  his  raiae,  resistance  vayleth  none. 

The  first  eschue  is  remedy  alone. 

Coming  to  Spenser  we  note  the  steady  advance,  though  even 
here   the   similes   and    metaphors  are   comparatively   simple. 


104  SIMILE  AND   METAPHOR 

From  the  last  stanzas  of  Book  IT,  Canto  xii,  of  The  Faerie 
Queene,  we  pluck  the  following  flowers  of  fancy  : 

Of  the  vines  (Stanza  54) : 

Some  deepe  empurpled  as  the  Hyacine, 
Some  as  the  Rubine  laughing  sweetly  red, 
Some  like  faire  Emeraudes,  not  yet  well  ripened. 

A  good  trio  of  similes,  bj  the  way,  in  line  with   the  ballad 
colour-similes. 

The  whiles  their  snowy  limbes,  as  through  a  vele,  etc. 

We  also  find  dewy  face,  alabaster  sldn,,  angelicall  soft  voices, 
etc.  But  above  all  note  the  exquisite  simile  in  this  same  canto 
where  mortal  life  is  compared  to  the  rose,  in  seventeen  as  lovely 
verses  as  the  English  language  has  ever  produced.  This  is  the 
culmination  of  figure  in  Spenser,  and  with  this  bare  notice,  we 
leave  it,  to  pass  on  to  Shakspere,  in  whom  simile  reached  the 
highest  development  it  attained  until  Shelley  and  Tennyson 
made  the  language  young  again. 

In  Shakspere's  Venus  and  Adonis  (chosen  for  its  wealth  of 
figure)  we  still  find  no  very  elaborate  similes,  although  the 
imagery  is  characterised  by  great  freshness  and  beauty. 

A  sudden  pale, 
Like  lawn  being  spread  upon  the  blushing  rose, 
Usurps  her  cheek. 

His  lowering  brows  o'erwhelming  his  fair  sight, 
Like  misty  vapours,  when  they  blot  the  sky. 

Shakspere,  indeed,  seldom  goes  to  great  length  in  his  similes 
and  metaphors.     Compare  Hamlefs 

this  world 
Fie  on't !  0  fie  !  't  is  an  unweeded  garden, 
That  grows  to  seed ;  things  rank  and  gross  in  nature 
Possess  it  merely,  etc.  ; 

and  Capulet's 

Death  lies  upon  her  like  an  untimely  frost 
Upon  the  fairest  flower  in  all  the  field. 

The  famous  verses  of  Othello  (iii,  3,  440),  however,  are  cited 
on  the  other  side,  as  an  instance  of  elaborate  simile.     The  lines 


IN  THE   ENGLISH  AND   SCOTTISH  BALLADS.  105 

beginning  Like  to  the  Pontic  Sea  are  too  well-known  to  need 
repetition  here. 

Length  in  simile  is,  generally  speaking,  reserved  for  Milton, 
from  whom  we  may  quote  one  case  in  point  : 

As  when  the  potent  rod 
Of  Amram's  son,  in  Aegypt's  evil  day, 
Wav'd  'round  the  coast,  up-called  a  pitchy  cloud 
Of  locusts,  warping  on  the  eastern  wind, 
That  o'er  the  realm  of  impious  Pharaoh  hung, 
Like  night,  and  darkened  all  the  land  of  Nile  : 
So  numberless  were  these  bad  angels  seen,  etc. 

—Paradise  Lost,  i,  338-344. 

This,  as  has  been  said,  is  the  best  until  we  reach  Shelley. 
In  Shelley,  indeed,  we  find  the  perfection  of  figure,  and  the 
temptation  is  great  to  bring  up  all  the  noble  passages  from  his 
works.     Let  us  cite  two : 

She  rose  like  an  autumnal  Night  that  springs 

Out  of  the  east  and  follows  wild  and  drear 
The  golden  Day,  which  on  eternal  wings 

Even  as  a  ghost  abandoning  a  bier, 
Had  left  the  Earth  a  corpse. 

— Adonais,  xsiii. 

A  pard-like  spirit,  beautiful  and  swift. 

It  is  a  dying  lamp,  a  falling  shower, 

A  breaking  billow  ;  even  whilst  we  speak 
Is  it  not  broken  ?     On  the  withering  flower 

The  killing  sun  smiles  brightly ;  on  a  cheek 
The  life  can  burn  in  blood  even  while  the  heart  may  break. 

— Ibid.,  xxxii. 

In  Tennyson,  however,  we  find  imagery  become  thought  as 

never  before,  although  a  grain  of  the  supernatural  seems  to 

tincture   his   best   figures.    Kote  these  from  The  Passing  of 

Arthur : 

an  agony 
Of  lamentation,  like  a  wind  that  shrills 
All  night  in  a  waste  land,  where  no  one  comes 
Or  hath  come  since  the  making  of  the  world. 


And  aijain 


o"- 


Then  from  the  dawn  it  seemed  there  came,  but  faint 
As  from  beyond  the  limit  of  the  world. 


106  SIMILE   AND   METAPHOR 

Like  the  last  echo  born  of  a  great  cry, 
Sounds  as  if  some  fair  city  were  one  voice 
Around  a  king  returning  from  his  wars. 

There  will  be  little  difficulty  in  seeing  in  these  examples  the 
progression  of  English  simile  and  metaphor  toward  nobility  and 
grandeur  of  thought  and  language.  The  ballads,  perhaps,  were 
in  many  cases  composed  before  the  full  dawn  of  simile  and 
metaphor,  and  tradition  may  have  preserved  the  old  figures  in 
them  without  change  or  innovation.  This  is,  possibly,  a  plea 
for  the  antiquity  of  the  ballads,  which  it  is  left  for  future 
essayists  to  prove. 

It  may  be  well  to  close  this  paper  with  a  comparison  of  one 
or  two  modern  ballads,  in  their  choice  of  figure,  with  the  stand- 
ard we  have  found  in  the  old  ballads. 

Coleridge,  for  instance,  in  The  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner^ 
uses  many  similes  that  have  warrant  in  the  models  of  popular 
song.  Some  of  these  are  And  listens  like  a  three  years'  child, 
Red  as  a  rose  is  she,  the  snowy  clifts,  Her  lochs  were  yellow  as 
gold,  Like  April  hoar-frost  spread,  golden  fire.  The  harhour 
hay  was  clear  as  glass,  etc.  But  the  greater  number  are  too 
fine  for  ballad  writing.  One — and  that  of  the  best — will  suf- 
fice for  comparative  quotation : 

And  see  those  sails, 
How  thin  they  are  and  sere. 
I  never  saw  aught  like  to  them 
Unless  perchance  it  were 

Brown  skeletons  of  leaves  that  lag 
My  forest  brook  along  ; 
When  the  ivy-tod  is  heavy  with  snow, 
And  the  owlet  whoops  to  the  wolf  below, 
That  eats  the  she-wolf's  young. 

Scott,  on  the  other  hand,  the  best  of  all  the  modern  ballad 
writers,  in  his  Eve  of  St.  John,  uses  but  two  similes  : 

Then  changed,  I  trow,  was  that  bold  Baron's  brow, 
From  the  dark  to  the  Uood-red  high, 

and 

For  it  scorched  like  a  fiery  brand  ; 


IN  THE  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   BALLADS.  107 


both  good  ballad  figures.  Such  restraint  is  remarkable,  and 
shows  how  deep  must  have  been  Scott's  appreciation  and  under- 
standing of  the  ballad  style.  In  The  Battle  of  Beal  ''an  Dtdne, 
likewise,  Scott  uses  certain  variations  of  true  ballad  figures  that 
are  neat  and  extremely  ingenious.  Further  investigation  in  this 
field,  however,  seems  unnecessary,  as  the  subject  has  been  ex- 
hausted by  many  critics  and  poets  of  note  from  Percy  down  to 
Al2;ernon  Charles  Swinburne. 

The  ballad,  notwithstanding,  is  dead ;  the  story  paper  has 
taken  its  place.  Those  songs  that  we  have  may  serve  to  quicken 
and  inspire  many  poets  yet  to  come  ;  but  the  wise  bard  will  not 
force  imitation  of  them  to  too  great  length.  The  ballad-writer 
has  lived  and  had  his  day,  and  the  ballad-monger  is  no  substi- 
tute for  him.  Poetry  has  many  notes,  and  that  of  the  ballad 
carries  far,  and  wakens  chords  in  many  hearts  ;  but  the  note 
is  faint  and  dying,  and  cannot  be  reproduced  by  future  writers. 
The  old  balladists  exhausted  the  field,  and  the  modern  poet 
must  deal  with  the  facts  of  life  as  he  sees  them  about  him. 

So  perish  the  old  Gods  ! 
[But  out  of  the  Sea  of  Time 
Rises  a  new  Land  of  Song, 
Fairer  than  the  Old. 
Over  the  meadows  green 
Walk  the  young  Bards  and  sing. 


APPENDIX. 


Educational   Institutions   Attended   by   the   Author. 

1874-1879.  Grammar  School,  Newburgh,  N.  Y. 

1879-1883.  The  Newburgh  Academ3^ 

1884-1885.  Siglar  Preparatory  School,  ISTewburgh. 

1885-1892.  Columbia  College,  New  York  City. 


Degrees   and   Honours   Conferred  upon   the   Author. 

1889.  A.B.,  Columbia  College. 

Honours   in   Greek,  Latin,   English,   and  Philosophy, 
Columbia  College. 
1889-1891.     Prize    Fellow    in    Letters,    Assistant   in   Latin; 
Columbia  College. 

1890.  A.M.,  Columbia  College. 

1891-1892.  ,  University  Fellow  in  English,  Columbia  College. 


A  A      000  253  646    4 


CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  San  Diego 

DATE  DUE 

MAR  2  3  1974 

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<^  r  p  1  Q    'V 

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UCSD  Libr. 

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