LORD BATEMAN 
 CRUIKSHANK 
 
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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://archive.org/details/lovingballadofloOOdick 
 
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 JLrrd Klienui.ii, Jis'ho A|ojoea-recl 'jorevt-cnts to 
 low em-l)irk<a,tu)tu , 
 
THE 
 
 LOVING BALLAD 
 
 OF 
 
 LORD BATEMAN. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 GEORGE CRUIKSHANK, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 BELL & DALDY, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 1871. 
 
LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS 3 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
©Harmnfl to tlje IJufcltc 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 THE LOVING BALLAD 
 
 OF 
 
 LORD BATEMAN. 
 
 In some collection of Old English Ballads there is an ancient 
 ditty which I am told bears some remote and distant re- 
 semblance to the following Epic Poem. I beg to quote the 
 emphatic language of my estimable friend (if he will allow 
 me to call him so), the Black Bear in Piccadilly, and to 
 assure all to whom these presents may come, that “ I am the 
 original.” This affecting legend is given in the following 
 pages precisely as I have frequently heard it sung on 
 Saturday nights, outside a house of general refreshment 
 (familiarly termed a wine vaults) at Battle-bridge. The 
 singer is a young gentleman who can scarcely have num- 
 bered nineteen summers, and who before his last visit to the 
 treadmill, where he was erroneously incarcerated for six 
 months as a vagrant (being unfortunately mistaken for 
 another gentleman), had a very melodious and plaintive 
 tone of voice, which, though it is now somewhat impaired by 
 gruel and such a getting up stairs for so long a period, I 
 hope shortly to find restored. I have taken down the words 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 from his own mouth at different periods, and have been 
 careful to preserve his pronunciation, together with the air 
 to which he does so much justice. Of his execution of it, 
 however, and the intense melancholy which he communicates 
 to such passages of the song as are most susceptible of such 
 an expression, I am unfortunately unable to convey to the 
 reader an adequate idea, though I may hint that the effect 
 seems to me to be in part produced by the long and mournful 
 drawl on the last two or three words of each verse. 
 
 I had intended to have dedicated my imperfect illustrations 
 of this beautiful Romance to the young gentleman in question. 
 As I cannot find, however, that he is known among his 
 friends by any other name than “ The Tripe-skewer,” which 
 1 cannot but consider as a sobriquet , or nickname ; and as 
 1 feel that it would be neither respectful nor proper to address 
 him publicly by that title, I have been compelled to forego 
 the pleasure. If this should meet his eye, will he pardon my 
 humble attempt to embellish with the pencil the sweet ideas 
 to which he gives such feeling utterance ? 
 
 N.B. — The above is not my writing, nor the notes either, nor 
 am I on familiar terms (but quite the contrary) with the 
 Black Bear. Nevertheless I admit the accuracy of the 
 statement relative to the public singer whose name is 
 unknown, and concur generally in the sentiments above 
 expressed relative to him. 
 
 George Cruikshank, 
 
THE 
 
 LOVING BALLAD 
 
 OF 
 
 Hor& Bateman* 
 
 i. 
 
 Lord Bateman- vos a noble Lord, 
 
 A noble Lord of high degree ; 
 
 He shipped his-self all aboard of a ship, 
 Some foreign country for to see. 1 * 
 
 For the notes to this beautiful Poem, see the end of the work. 
 
1 
 
 Tie, ^u/rtas ordy douii^xfcvr <i|obrc?^oKc<s to 
 Trufigato tW SU^enu^S ofoiorcl b^Ct^W^TU 
 
BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN, 
 
 II. 
 
 He sail-ed east, he sail-ed vest, 
 
 Until he come to famed Tur-key, 
 Vere he vos taken and put to prisin, 
 Until his life was quite wea-ry. 
 
 ill. 
 
 All in this prisin there grew a tree, 
 
 O ! there it grew so stout and strong, 
 Vere he vos chain-ed all by the middle, 
 
 Until his life vos almost gone. 
 
Tfte. c jTivrk<s daogkt ti- ex jo-re ss e.s a wis.lv 
 as jtork BafemjTv wa-s fter-s , 
 
BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN. 
 
 9 
 
 IV. 
 
 This Turk 2 he had one ounly darter, 
 
 The fairest my two eyes e’er see, 
 
 She steele the keys of her father’s prisin, 
 
 And swore Lord Bateman she would let go free. 
 
 V. 
 
 O she took him to her father’s cellar, 
 
 And guv to him the best of vine ; 
 
 And ev’ry holth she dronk unto him, 
 
 Vos, “ I vish Lord Bateman as you vos mine !” 3 
 
BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN. 
 
 11 
 
 VI. 
 
 “ O have you got houses, have you got land, 
 
 And does Northumberland belong to thee ? 
 And what would you give to the fair young lady 
 As out of prisin would let you go free ?” 
 
 VII. 
 
 “ O I’ve got houses, and IVe got land, 
 
 And half Northumberland belongs to me ; 
 
 And I vill give it all to the fair young lady 
 As out of prisin vould let me go free.” 
 
BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN . 
 
 13 
 
 VIII. 
 
 “ O, in sevin long years I’ll make a wow 
 For sevin long years, and keep it strong , 4 
 That if you’ll ved no other voman, 
 
 O I vill v-e-ed no other man.” 
 
 IX. 
 
 O she took him to her father’s harbour, 
 
 And guv to him a ship of fame, 
 
 Saying, “ Farevell, farevell to you, Lord Bateman, 
 
 I fear I ne-e-ver shall see you agen. 
 
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BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN. 15 
 
 X. 
 
 Now sevin long years is gone and past, 
 
 And fourteen days, veil known to me ; 5 
 She packed up all her gay clouthing, 
 
 And swore Lord Bateman she would go see. 
 
 XI. 
 
 O ven she arrived at Lord Bateman’s castle, 
 
 How bouldly then she rang the bell, 
 
 “ Who’s there ? who’s there ?” cries the proud young 
 porter, 
 
 “ O come, unto me pray quickly tell 
 
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 ^fte. fro-vud ymincj Tor ter 
 UnsYv'trs th-<~ door — 
 
BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN . 
 
 17 
 
 XII. 
 
 “ O ! is this here Lord Bateman's castle, 
 
 And is his lordship here vithin ?” 
 
 “ O yes ! O yes !” cries the proud young porter ; 
 “ He's just now takin' his young bride in.” 
 
 XIII. 
 
 “ O ! bid him to send me a slice of bread, 
 
 And a bottle of the wery best vine, 
 
 And not forgettin' the fair young lady 
 As did release him ven close confine.” 
 
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BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN . 
 
 19 
 
 XIV. 
 
 O ! avay and avay vent this proud young porter, 
 Oh ! avay and avay and avay vent he , 6 
 Until he come to Lord Bateman's charmber, 
 
 Ven he vent down on his bended knee. 
 
 xv. 
 
 “ Vot news, vot news, my proud young porter , 7 
 Vot news, vot news, come tell to me ?” 
 
 “ O there is the fairest young lady 
 As ever my two eyes did see. 
 

 
BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN. 
 
 XVI, 
 
 “ She has got rings on ev’ry finger, 
 
 And on one finger she has got three ; 
 Vith as much gay gould about her middle 
 As would buy half Northumberlee. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 “ O she bids you send her a slice of bread 
 And a bottle of the wery best vine, 
 
 And not forgettin’ the fair young lady 
 As did release you ven close confine.” 
 

 
 
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BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN . 
 
 23 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Lord Bateman then in passion flew, 
 
 And broke his sword in splinters three ," 1 
 Saying, “ I vill give half my father’s land 
 If so be as Sophia 9 has crossed the sea.” 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Then up and spoke this young bride’s mother, 
 Who never vos heard to speak so free : 10 
 Sayin, “ You’ll not forget my ounly darter, 
 
 If so be as Sophia has crossed the sea/ 
 

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BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN . 
 
 25 
 
 XX. 
 
 “ O it’s true I made a bride of your darter, 
 
 But you’ll see what I’ll do for you and she ; 
 
 She came to me on a horse and saddle, 
 
 But she shall go home in a coach and three.” 
 
 XXL 
 
 Lord Bateman then prepared another marriage, 
 With both their hearts so full of glee, 
 
 Saying, “ I vill roam no more to foreign countries 
 Now that Sophia has crossed the sea .” 11 
 
BALLAD OE LORD BATEMAN . 
 
 [Mr. George Cruikshank has taken the liberty of adding 
 three verses to this ballad, to follow No. xx. — (No. xxi. to 
 be omitted). These verses to be said or sung by those 
 parties who may approve of the alteration and addition.] 
 
 XXL 
 
 Then up and spoke the proud young porter, 
 Who never was heard to speak so free ; 
 Saying, “ I will marry this lady's darter, 
 
 If so be that she will marry me." 
 
BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN . 
 
 29 
 
 XXII. 
 
 “ O,” then his lordship said, “ O then,” says he, 
 “ That is just what I should like to see/’ 
 
 And to the proud young porter’s offer 
 
 The mother and the darter did both agree. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Then for the two weddings they did prepare, 
 With all their hearts so full of glee ; 
 
 And all did dance and all did sing, 
 
 Right merrily, right merrily ! 
 
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NOTES. 
 
 I. 
 
 Some foreign country for to see. 
 
 The reader is here in six words artfully made acquainted with 
 Lord Bateman’s character and temperament. Of a roving, wander- 
 ing, and unsettled spirit, his lordship left his native country, 
 bound he knew not whither. Some foreign country he wished 
 to see, and that was the extent of his desire ; any foreign 
 country would answer his purpose — all foreign countries were 
 alike to him. He was a citizen of the world, and upon the 
 world of waters, sustained by the daring and reckless impulses 
 of his heart, he boldly launched. For anything, from pitch - 
 and-toss upwards to manslaughter, his lordship was prepared. 
 Lord Bateman’s character at this time, and his expedition, would 
 
32 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 appear to have borne a striking resemblance to those of Lord 
 Byron. 
 
 His goblets brimmed with every costly wine, 
 
 And all that mote to luxury invite, 
 
 Without a sigh he left to cross the brine, 
 
 And traverse Paynim shores, and pass earth’s central line. 
 
 Childe Harold, Canto i. 
 
 II. 
 
 * 
 
 This Turk he had , &c. 
 
 The poet has here, by that bold license which only genius can 
 venture • upon, surmounted the extreme difficulty of introducing 
 any particular Turk, by assuming a foregone conclusion in the 
 reader’s mind, and adverting in a casual, careless way to a Turk 
 
 unknown as to an old acquaintance. “ This Turk he had ” 
 
 We have heard of no Turk before, and yet this familiar intro- 
 duction satisfies us at once that we know him well. He was 
 a pirate, no doubt, of a cruel and savage disposition, entertain- 
 ing a hatred of the Christian race, and accustomed to garnish 
 his trees and vines with such stray professors of Christianity as 
 
NOTES . 
 
 33 
 
 happened to fall into his hands. “ This Turk he had—” is a 
 masterstroke — a truly Shaksperian touch. There are few things 
 like it in the language. 
 
 III. 
 
 And 'every holth she dronk unto him , 
 
 Vos, “ I vish Lord Bateman as you vos mine V 
 
 A most affecting illustration of the sweetest simplicity, the 
 purest artlessness, and holiest affections of woman’s gentle nature. 
 Bred up among the rough and savage crowds which thronged 
 her father’s lawless halls, and meeting with no responsive or 
 kindred spirit among those fierce barbarians (many of whom, 
 however, touched by her surpassing charms, though insensible 
 to her virtues and mental endowments, had vainly sought her 
 hand in marriage), this young creature had spent the greater 
 part of her life in the solitude of her own apartments, or in 
 contemplating the charms of nature arrayed in all the luxury 
 of Eastern voluptuousness. At length she hears from an aged 
 and garrulous attendant, her only female adviser (for her mother 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 NOTES . 
 
 died when she was yet an infant), of the sorrows and sufferings 
 of the Christian captive. Urged by pity and womanly sympathy, 
 she repairs to his prison to succour and console him. She sup- 
 ports his feeble and tottering steps to her father’s cellar, recruits 
 his exhausted frame with copious draughts of sparkling wine, and 
 when his dim eye brightens, and his pale cheek becomes flushed 
 with the glow of returning health and animation, she — unaccus- 
 tomed to disguise or concealment, and being by nature all open- 
 ness and truth — gives vent to the feelings which now thrill her 
 maiden heart for the first time, in the rich gush of unspeakable 
 love, tenderness, and devotion — 
 
 I vish Lord Bateman as you vos mine ! 
 
 O, in sevin long years Ell make a wow , 
 ril make a wow , and Ell keep it strong. 
 
 Love has converted the tender girl into a majestic heroine ; 
 she can not only make “a wow,” but she can “ keep it strong 
 she feels all the dignity of truth and love swelling in her bosom. 
 
NOTES . 
 
 35 
 
 With the view of possessing herself of the real state of Lord 
 Bateman’s affections, and with no sordid or mercenary motives, 
 she has inquired of that nobleman what are his means of sub- 
 sistence, and whether all Northumberland belongs to him. His 
 lordship has rejoined, with a noble regard for truth, that half 
 Northumberland is his, and that he will give it freely to the fair 
 young lady who will release him from his dungeon. She, being 
 thus assured of his regard and esteem, rejects all idea of pecuniary 
 reward, and offers to be a party to a solemn wow — to be kept 
 strong on both sides — that, if for seven years he will remain a 
 bachelor, she, for the like period, will remain a maid. The 
 contract is made, and the lovers are solemnly contracted. 
 
 v. 
 
 Now sevin long years is gone and past , 
 
 And fourteen days veil known to me. 
 
 In this may be recognized, though in a minor degree, the same 
 gifted hand that portrayed the Mussulman, the pirate, the father, 
 
3 6 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 and the bigot, in two words. The time is gone, the historian 
 knows it, and that is enough for the reader. This is the dignity 
 of history very strikingly Exemplified. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Avay and avay vent this proud young porter, 
 
 Avay and avay and avay vent he. 
 
 Nothing perhaps could be more ingeniously contrived to ex- 
 press the vastness of Lord Bateman’s family mansion than this 
 remarkable passage. The proud young porter had to thread 
 courts, corridors, galleries, and staircases, innumerable, before 
 he could penetrate to those exquisite apartments in which Lord 
 Bateman was wont to solace his leisure hours with the most 
 refined pleasures of his time. We behold him hastening to the 
 presence of his lord ; the repetition of the word “ avay ” causes 
 us to feel the speed with which he hastens — at length he arrives. 
 Does he appear before the chief with indecent haste ? Is he 
 described as rushing madly into his presence to impart his 
 message ? No ! a different atmosphere surrounds that remarkable 
 
NOTES. 
 
 37 
 
 man. Even this proud young porter is checked in his impetuous 
 
 career, which lasted only 
 
 Until he came to Lord Bateman’s chamber, 
 
 Vere he vent down on his bended knee. 
 
 Lord Bateman’s eye is upon him, and he quails. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Vot news, vot news, my proud young porter ? 
 
 A pleasant condescension on the part of his lordship, showing 
 that he recognized the stately youth, and no less stately pride of 
 office which characterised his follower, and that he was acquainted 
 with the distinguishing appellation which he appears to have 
 borne in the family. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 A nd broke his szvord in splinters three. 
 
 Exemplifying, in a highly poetical and striking manner, the force 
 of Lord Bateman’s love, which he would seem to have kept 
 strong as his 4 4 wow.” We have beheld him patient in confine- 
 ment, descending to no base murmurings against fortune, even 
 when chained by the middle to a tree, with the prospect of 
 
38 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ending his clays in that ignominious and unpleasant position. 
 He had borne all this and a great deal more ; seven years and 
 a fortnight have elapsed, and, at last, on the mere mention of 
 the fair young lady, he falls into a perfect frenzy, and breaks 
 his sword, the faithful partner and companion of his glory, into 
 three splinters. Antiquarians differ respecting the intent and 
 meaning of this ceremony, which has been construed and in- 
 terpreted in many different ways. The strong probability is that 
 it was done “for luck;” and yet Lord Bateman should have 
 been superior to the prejudices of the vulgar. 
 
 IX. 
 
 If my own Sophia. 
 
 So called doubtless from the mosque of St. Sophia, at Constan- 
 tinople ; her father having professed the Mahomedan religion. 
 
 x. 
 
 Then up and spoke this young bride's mother , 
 
 Who never vos heard to speak so free . 
 
 This is an exquisite touch of nature, which most married men, 
 
NOTES . 
 
 39 
 
 whether of noble or plebeian blood, will quickly recognize. 
 During the whole of her daughter’s courtship, the good old lady 
 had scarcely spoken, save by expressive smiles and looks of 
 approval. But now that her object is gained, and her daughter 
 fast married (as she thinks), she suddenly assumes quite a new 
 tone, “and never was heard to speak so free.” It would be 
 difficult for poetry to comprehend anything more strictly true and 
 lifelike than this. 
 
 With both their hearts so full of glee. 
 
 If anything could add to the grace and beauty of the poem, it 
 would be this most satisfactory and agreeable conclusion. At the 
 time of the foreign lady’s arrival on the shores of England, we 
 find Lord Bateman in the disagreeable dilemma of having con- 
 tracted another marriage ; to which step his lordship has doubt- 
 less been impelled by despair of ever recovering his lost Sophia, 
 and a natural anxiety not to die without leaving an heir to his 
 estate. The ceremony has been performed, the Church has done 
 its office, the bride and her mamma have taken possession of the 
 castle, when the lost Sophia suddenly presents herself. An 
 
40 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ordinary man would have been overwhelmed by such a compli- 
 cation of perplexities — not so Lord Bateman. Master of the 
 human heart, he appeals to feminine ambition and love of display ; 
 and, reminding the young lady that she came to him on a saddle 
 horse (with her revered parent following no doubt on foot behind), 
 offers to bestow upon her a coach and three. The young lady 
 closes with the proposition ; her august mother, having brought 
 it about by her freedom of speech, makes no objection ; Lord 
 Bateman, being a nobleman of great power, and having plenty 
 of superfluous wealth to bestow upon the Church, orders another 
 marriage, and boldly declares the first one to be a nullity. 
 Thereupon “ another marriage” is immediately prepared, and the 
 piece closes with a picture of general happiness and hilarity. 
 
 LONDON : PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET 
 AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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