Notes
1] Thomas Percy obtained the poem from two manuscript copies from Scotland. There are eighteen versions, some of them fragments, and some more detailed, and in one group the voyage is to Norway, either to take the Scottish king's daughter there or to bring back the king of Norway's daughter. Owing to the discourtesy of certain Norwegians, Sir Patrick leaves abruptly and is wrecked on the return voyage. A possible historical basis is the marriage of Margaret, daughter of Alexander III of Scotland, to Eric of Norway in 1281, when many of her escort were drowned on their way home, or the death of Margaret's daughter, "the Maid of Norway," while she was being brought back to Scotland in 1290 to succeed her grandfather, who died in 1286. But there is insufficient evidence of the connection of the ballad with any historical events; and Sir Patrick Spens himself has never been identified.
Dumferling: Dumferline, a town in Fife, on the Firth of Forth. It is early a favourite residence of the Scottish kings.
9] a braid letter: a full, long letter.
14] lauch: laugh.
19] Percy cites a law of James III of Scotland, forbidding ships to be freighted out of the realm with staple goods between October 28 and February 2.
25-26] This saying is still quite common in Scotland; it is a popular belief that to see the crescent moon with the remainder of the disk faintly illuminated by reflected light from the earth is a sign of storm. Child suggests that the ill-omen was the sight of the new moon late yestreen.
29-30] Loath to wet their cork-heeled shoes.
31] Long before the whole game was over.
32] Their hats were floating on the water; they were in over their heads.
38] kems: combs.
41] half over to Aberdour, half-way from Norway to Aberdour. There are two villages of Aberdour on the east coast of Scotland, one in Aberdeenshire, the other in Fife on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. Either may be meant.
John Simpson, who spent his childhood in Aberdour, Fife, writes that "it was folklore that the ship sank in "Mortimers Deep," the narrow channel on the north side of Inchcolm island. This would put the ship on a course to make port at St. Davids or Inverkeithing, the landings for Dunfermline, about 5 miles inland" (personal communication, April 9, 2001).
Online text copyright © 2010, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (London: J. Dodsley, 1763).
First publication date:
1763
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 2RP.1.70; RPO 1996-2001.
Recent editing: 2:2002/5/17*1:2004/11/23
Rhyme: abcb