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FAIR JANET. |
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From Sharpe's Ballad Boole, p. 1.
" This ballad, the subject of which appears to have been very popular, is printed as it was sung by an old woman in Perthshire. The air is extremely beautiful."
Herd gave an imperfect version of this ballad under the title of Willie and Annet, in his Scottish Songs, i. 219; repeated after him in Ritson's Scottish Songs, and in Johnson's Museum. Finlay's copy, improved, but made up of fragments, follows the present, and in the Appendix is Sweet Willie and Fair Maisry, from Bu-chan's collection. We have followed Motherwell by inserting (in brackets) three stanzas from Willie and Annet and Sweet Willie, which contribute slightly to complete Sharpe's copy. None of these ballads is satisfactory, though Sharpe's is the best. Touching the relation of Fair Janet to the Danish ballad of King Waldemar and his Sister, the reader will please look at the preface to the preceding ballad. |
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