| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
WILLIE'S LADYE. |
||
|
Printed from Mrs. Brown's MS., in the Border Minstrelsy, vol. iii. p. 170. Another copy is given in Jamieson's Popular Ballads, (ii. 367,) and versions, enlarged and altered from the ancient, in the same work, (ii. 179,) and in Tales of Wonder, No. 56. This ballad bears a striking resemblance to Sir Stig and Lady Torelild, translated from the Danish by Jamieson, Illustrations of Northern Antiquities, p. 344. This is the eighth (marked H) of nine Danish ballads given by Grundtvig, under the title Hustru og Mands Moder, vol. ii. 404. Three Swedish versions have been printed: two in Arwidsson's Fornsdnger, Liten Kerstins FortroUning, ii. 252, and another (Grundtvig) in Cavallius and Stephens's Svenska Folksagor.
" Those who wish to know how an incantation, or charm, of the distressing nature here described, was performed in classic days, may consult the story of Galanthis's Metamorphosis, in Ovid, or the following passage in Apuleius: ' Eadem (saga, scilicet, qusedam) amatoris uxorem, quod in earn dicacule probrum dix-erat, jam in sarcinam praegnationis, obsepto utero, et repigrato fcetu, perpetua prsegnatione damnavit. Et ut cuncti numerant, octo annorum onere, misella ilia, velut elephantum paritura, distenditur.' Apul. Me-tam. lib. i.
" There is a curious tale about a Count of Wester-avia, whom a deserted concubine bewitched upon his marriage, so as to preclude all hopes of his becoming a father. The spell continued to operate for three years, till one day, the Count happening to meet with |
||