Queen Eleanor’s Confession
No: 156; variant: 156[G]
- The queen of England she is seek,
And seek and like to dee;
She has sent for friers out of France,
To bespeek hir speed[i]ly.
- The king has cald on his merrymen,
By thirtys and by threes;
Earl Marshall should have been the formest man,
But the very last man was he.
- 'The queen of England s[h]e is seek,
And seek and like to dee,
And she has sent for friers out of France,
To bespeek hir speedyly.
- 'But I will put on a frier's weeg,
And ye'l put on another,
And we'll away to Quenn Helen gaits,
Like friers both together.'
- 'O no, no,' says Earl Marshall,
'For this it must not be;
For if the queen get word of that,
High hanged I will be.'
- 'But I will swear by my septer and crown,
And by the seas so free,
I will swear by my septer and crown,
Earl Marshall, thow's no dee.'
- So he has put on a frier's wig,
And the king has put on another,
And they are away to Queen Helen gaits,
Like friers both together.
- When they came to Queen Helen gaits,
They tirled at the pin;
There was non so ready as the queene herself
To open and let them in.
- 'O are you two Scottish dogs?--
And hanged you shall be--
Or are [you] friers come out of France,
To bespeek me speedily?'
- 'We are not two Scottish dogs,
Nor hanged we shall be;
For we have not spoken a wrong word
Since we came over the sea.'
- 'Well then, the very first that ever I sind
I freely confess to thee;
Earl Marshall took my maidenhead
Below yon greenwood tree.'
- 'That is a sin, and very great sin,
But the Pope will pardon thee;'
'Amene, Amene,' says Earl Marshall,
But a feert, feert heart had he.
- 'The very next sin that ever I sind
I freely confess to thee;
I had [poisen] seven years in my breast
To poisen King Hendry.'
- 'That is a sin, and very great sin,
But the Pope forgiveth thee;'
'Amene, Amene,' says Earl Marshall,
But a feert, feert heart had he.
- 'The very next sin that ever I sind
I freely confess to thee;
I poisened one of my court's ladies,
Was far more fairer than me.'
- 'That is a sin, and a very great sin,
But the Pope forgiveth thee;'
'Amene, Amene,' says Earl Marshall,
But a feert, feert heart had he.
- 'Do you see yon bony boys,
Playing at the baw?
The oldest of them is Earl Marshall's,
And I like him best of all.'
- 'That is a sin, and very great sin,
But the Pope forgiveth thee;'
'Amene, Amene,' says Earl Marshall,
But a feert, feert heart had he.
- 'Do ye see two bony [boys],
Playing at the baw?
The youngest of them is King Hendry's,
And I like him worst of all.
- 'Because he is headed like a bull,
And his nose is like a boar;'
'What is the matter?' says King Henry,
'For he shall be my heir.'
- Now he put off his frier's wig,
And drest himself [in] red;
She wrung hir hands, and tore hir hair,
And s[w]ore she was betraid.
- 'Had I not sworn by my septer and crown,
And by the seas so free,
Had I not sworn by my septer and crown,
Earl Marshall, thowst have died.'