The Folk-Lore Journal (Volume 6)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1888 edition. Excerpt: ...in English please use the vowel-signs of Webster's Unabridged, and in cases of difficulty spell phonetically. All correspondence will be gratefully received, and materials used will be credited to the contributors. H. Carrikgton Bolton. University Club, New York City. An old Ballad.--Has the following ballad ever been printed, and if so where? I heard it from a relative of Dr. Birkbeck Hill's, in whose family it is traditional. A young man on his way to the gallows appeals to his parents and brethren in the following terms: -- Hold up, hold up your hands so high, Hold up your hands so high, For I think I see my own mother coining o'er yonder stile to me. Oh mother hast thou any gold for me, Any money to buy me free, To save my body from the cold clay ground and my head from the gallows tree? Mother, fatber, and brethren all refuse him aid: -- Oh no, I have no gold for thee, No money to buy thee free, For I have come to see thee hanged, and hanged thou shalt be. 13ut his sweetheart is kinder and buys him off. At the end of each verse is the refrain-- Oh the briars, the prickly briars, They prick my heart full sore. If ever I get free From the gallows tree I never get there any more. Alfred Nutt. Selling by Inch of Candle.--In relation to a very curious custom which is annually observed in the little village of Tatworth. near Chard, it would be interesting to learn whether a similar practice is carried out in any other part of this country. It appears that there is in the village referred to a certain piece of land, measuring six acres and one perch, which has no legal owner, but the owners of certain properties in the vicinity are recognised as entitled to share the annual value of it, which value is, however, as a rule, very small. Those who...