The False Knight Upon the Road
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1955.62.B1
Original Tape ID
Summary
In this ballad, a boy on his way to school encounters a knight [the Devil in disguise] and they enter a dialogue in which they try to outwit each other by trading insults. The boy succeeds in matching the knight's cunning, and ends by willing him to Hell, showing that he is aware of the true identity of his interlocutor.
The contributor learned the song when she was very small, but does not recall from whom.
Item Notes
4 verses of 2 lines.
See:
'Scottish Ballads' (E. Lyle, 1994) p. 18
'Popular Rhymes of Scotland' (R. Chambers, 1870) pp. 62-63
'Scottish Nursery Rhymes' (N. & W. Montgomerie, 1946) pp. 133-135
'Minstrelsy Ancient & Modern' (W. Motherwell, 1827) pp. lxxiv-lxxv
'Till Doomsday in the Afternoon' (E. MacColl & P. Seeger, 1986) pp. 168-169
'Andrew Crawfurd's Collection of Ballads & Songs' vol. 1 (E. Lyle, 1975) p. 77
'Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads' vol. 1 (B. H. Bronson, F. J. Child, 1959) pp. 34-38
Language
Scots
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good