Structure of a Couplet Ballad
This ballad is a superb
example of incremental repetition and
of the couplet ballad form (single lines alternating with refrain or
“burden” lines) which advance the action so slowly the protagonists
appear sculpturally posed in the most dramatic moments of their story.
This kind of narration is what prompts some people to compare the
narrative technique of the ballad to that of the comic strip, in which
action is represented by slight changes in successive pictorial frames.
Also typical of couplet
ballads, and demonstrated here, is use
of a four-beat line, rather than the so-called "ballad stanza"
alternating lines of four beats and
three.
The Bonnie Banks o Fordie /
Babylon (Child 14)
Traditional,
arr. Dick Gaughan
There were three sisters lived in a bouer
[bower
An they aa went out for tae pu a flouer
[And they all went out
for to pull a flower
They aa went out for tae pu a flouer
Doun by the bonnie banks o Fordie-o
[down
An they hadnae pu'd a flouer but ane
[had not
pulled but one flower
Whan up thair steppt a banisht man
Whan up thair steppt a banisht man
Doun by the bonnie banks o Fordie-o
An he's taen the first ane by the haun
[And he's taken the first one by the hand
An he's turnt her roun an he's made her staun etc.
[And h'e's turned her round and he's made her stand
Oh it's will ye be a robber's wife
Or will ye dee by my penknife
Oh it's A'll no be a robber's wife
But A will dee by your penknife
So it's he's taen out his wee penknife
An thair he's twined her o her life
An he's taen the saicant ane by the haun
[second
An he's turnt her roun an he's made her staun
Oh it's will ye be a robber's wife
Or will ye dee by my penknife
Oh it's A'll no be a robber's wife
A'd raither dee by your penknife
So it's he's taen out his wee penknife
An thair he's twined her o her life
An he's taen the third ane by the haun
An he's turnt her roun an he's made her staun
Oh it's will ye be a robber's wife
Or will ye dee by my penknife
Oh it's A'll no be a robber's wife
Nor will A dee by your penknife
For A hae brither in yon tree
[a
brother
in yon woods
If ye kill me then he'll kill ye
Come tell tae me yer brither's name
My brither's name it is Babylon
Oh sister hae I dune this ill tae ye
Hae A dune this dreadfu ill tae ye
An it's he's taen out his wee penknife
An it's thair he's taen his ain life
In keeping with their
minimalist narrative technique, couplet
ballads are often limited to the barest actions: situation is
established, a death results, a revelation follows. It is also common
for couplet ballads to
be enacted by two, rather than three, characters. (In most ballads the
"rule of three" calls for two primary characters, either lovers or
antagonists, plus a third character as catalyst or opponent.) "Babylon"
multiplies the basic actions (more than one death, more than one
sister) and makes a very special use of the rule of three. “She” is
represented by the three sisters replacing each other until we arrive
at the true heroine of the story, the youngest sister. Each is placed
in opposition to the villain, but we see
no hero. We are (consciously or unconsciously) waiting for him to
appear.
In some versions the third
sister unfolds a trio of brothers,
to match the trio of sisters, with the last (outlawed) brother’s
identity left to occupy the final scene with the last sister. The
version we have (with a single brother) has a more concentrated
emotional impact, and part of
that impact is structural. When the Hero (her brother) finally
“arrives”
in the words of the surviving Heroine and is immediately identified as
identical to the Villain, our shock is intensified by the twisting
repetition of diction and by the incestuous violation of the rule of
three.
Dick Gaughan has an elegant
sense of form and his version of
this ballad uses a balanced and expressive structure of verses to
unfold the action. Below you'll find the ballad reprinted in sections,
side by side with some notes to point out its structure.
After an introduction, each
four-verse unit of the action is
concentrically structured--its two center verses closely related, its
two outer verses
closely related and framing the other two. The repetition is exact from
sister
#1 to sister #2. In each of these narrative units the first verse
rhymes
haun/staun, while the rest rhyme ominously on wife/penknife/life.
In the third unit,
incremental repetition allows sister #3 to
drastically change the course of action with just a few words: “Nor
will A dee” instead of “A’d raither dee.” She then alters the rhyme
structure as well,
refusing the fatalistic pairing of life & knife, and we realize
that
the expected four-verse unit is also being extended, as the dialogue
between
sister and brother continues through seven verses.
On closer examination, we
can see that those seven verses
actually form a linked double set of fours, with the center verse
forming the last verse of one set and the first verse of the other.
Here for the first time the ballad has room for other kinds of
repetition besides incremental: causative repetition governs “Come tell
tae me yer brither’s name / My brither’s name is Babylon,” and “mere”
emphatic repetition marks the moment when Babylon realizes what he has
done, then makes his admission in the new “ye” rhyme sound introduced
by the defiant Heroine. When this unfolding verse structure finally
climaxes--with his death instead of hers--the death occurs in a
dramatically ironic repetition of the knife/life rhyme.
These interweavings of
form, coupled with the sound and the
meaning of the word "Babylon" -- associated with human language,
human evil, miscommunication, and divine destruction -- make the end of
this ballad as spooky as any you'll find.
There were three
sisters lived in a bouer
An they aa went out for tae pu a flouer
They aa went out for tae pu a flouer
Doun by the bonnie banks o Fordie-o
An they hadnae pu'd a flouer but ane
Whan up thair steppt a banisht man
Whan up thair steppt a banisht man
Doun by the bonnie banks o Fordie-o
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Introduction
of the scene & characters. We know going out to pull flowers is
asking for trouble.
bouer=bower aa=all tae pu = to pull
"When up there stepped a banished man"
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An he's taen the first ane by the haun
An he's turnt her roun an he's made her staun etc.
Oh it's will ye be a robber's wife
Or will ye dee by my penknife
Oh it's A'll no be a robber's wife
But A will dee by your penknife
So it's he's taen out his wee penknife
An thair he's twined her o her life
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First narrative unit. Center two verses of
dialogue are framed by outer two verses of narrative. Ominous
wife/penknife/life rhyme. Her response is controlled in both diction
and substance by his words.
In Agnes Lyle's version, she is explicitly offered death
or marriage-by-rape as alternatives. This more cryptic dialogue
suggests that "he's turnt her roun and he's made her staun" means rape.
taen = taken staun = stand dee = die
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An he's taen the saicant ane by the haun
An he's turnt her roun an he's made her staun
Oh it's will ye be a robber's wife
Or will ye dee by my penknife
Oh it's A'll no be a robber's wife
A'd raither dee by your penknife
So it's he's taen out his wee penknife
An thair he's twined her o her life
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Structure repeats exactly for the saicant (second)
sister. |
An he's taen the third ane by the
haun
An he's turnt her roun an he's made her staun
Oh it's will ye be a robber's wife
Or will ye dee by my penknife
Oh it's A'll no be a robber's wife
Nor will A dee by your penknife
For A hae brither in yon tree
If ye kill me then he'll kill ye
Come tell tae me yer brither's name
My brither's name it is Babylon
Oh sister hae I dune this ill tae ye
Hae A dune this dreadfu ill tae ye
An it's he's taen out his wee penknife .
An it's thair he's taen his ain life
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Last narrative unit. The
first four verses form one sub-frame, with a structure that starts out
just like the others. In the third verse she defies him with the
slightest possible change in the diction. Rebellion in the 4th verse is
more complete: she speaks for herself in her own words & introduces
a new rhyme. So this 4-verse unit doesn't reach aural or structural
closure, because...
...that 4th verse doubles as the first verse of another 4-verse unit.
Now she leads the way: his response in the 5th verse is controlled by her
diction and she answers at once, almost as if she is interrupting him.
This is the only verse in which 2 characters speak. It forms the
emotional climax.
When he goes on speaking, he's using her new rhyme (ye).
He kills himself in an ironic repetition of his own rhyme of
penknife/life. The
last verse also returns us to a narrating voice, without dialogue,
closing the frame.
A brither in yon tree = a brother in yonder woods
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Recording available on: Dick Gaughan: No
More Forever. Leader n.d. LER CD 2072. Original vinyl 1972.
Text from Dick Gaughan's web site http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/main.html
-- Susan Tichy ©2000
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