Susannes
Folksong-Notizen
- [1858:] [...] Jakob, Graf von Douglas, der in der
berühmten Chevy-Chase-Ballade die Ehre höchster
Tapferkeit mit dem Grafen Percy von
Northumberland teilt; zwei Namen, die fortleben
und einen Zauberklang für Ohr und Herz behalten
werden, solange noch ein Vogel im Walde singt und
die Menschen sich freuen, wenn der Frühling
kommt. Die alte Ballade (von der übrigens eine
sehr abweichende schottische Version existiert,
die den geschichtlichen Hergang um vieles genauer
wiedergibt) erzählt bekanntlich von einem
Jagdzug [Percys zur Herausforderung Douglas'].
Graf Douglas war nicht der Mann, auf sich warten
zu lassen. Aus dem Jagdzug wurde eine Schlacht.
Beide Führer fielen [...]. So das Gedicht, das
man vergeblich versucht hat, mit den historischen
Kämpfen jener Epoche, d.h. mit der Schlacht von
Otterburn, die um dieselbe Zeit zwischen Douglas
und Percy stattfand, in Einklang zu bringen. Die
Ballade spricht aufs unzweideutigste von dem Tode
beider Führer; der historische Percy aber, sooft
er auch seinem schottischen Rivalen, dem Grafen
Douglas, gegenüberstand, fiel nicht in der
Schlacht von Otterburn, sondern erst 13 Jahre
später bei Shrewsbury, wo er zufällig und
ausnahmsweise nicht gegen einen Douglas, sondern
umgekehrt an der Seite eines Douglas gegen
Heinrich Monmouth kämpfte und unterlag. [...]
Die schottischen Geschichtsschreiber berichten
über die Schlacht von Otterburn wie folgt:
"Jakob Graf von Douglas und sein Bruder, der
Graf von Murray, fielen an der Spitze von 3000
Mann in Northumberland ein und drangen, ohne
Widerstand zu finden, bis Newcastle vor, wo Graf
Percy Heißsporn in Verschanzung lag. Vor den
Toren der Stadt kam es zu einem persönlichen
Gefecht zwischen den beiden Rivalen, in welchem
der Douglas das Glück hatte, seinem Gegner das
Fähnchen von der Lanzenspitze abzureißen. Er
hob sich sofort hoch im Sattel empor, wies auf
das Fähnchen, das er in den Händen hielt, und
rief vor Freund und Feind laut über das Feld
hin, daß er diese Beute nach Schottland
heimtragen und auf dem Turmknauf seines Schlosses
von Dalkeith befestigen wolle. Percy antwortete:
'Das sollst du nun und nimmermehr.' Im Einklang
mit diesem seinem Wort suchte Percy jetzt dem
heimziehenden Douglas den Rückzug abzuschneiden
und überfiel in selbiger Nacht noch das
schottische Lager bei Otterburn, sieben Meilen
nördlich von Newcastle. Der Mond stand am
Himmel, und man focht mit Mut und Verzweiflung.
Endlich hoffte der Douglas, den Kampf zur
Entscheidung bringen zu können, und mit einem
Streitkolben bewaffnet, der so schwer war, daß
wenige ihn schwingen konnten, stürmte er in den
dicksten Knäuel der Engländer hinein. Nur drei
Genossen waren mit ihm, sein Schloßkaplan und
zwei Diener. Ehe der Rest der Schotten folgen
konnte, war es um ihn geschehen; drei tiefe
Wunden warfen ihn vom Pferde, neben ihm lagen die
beiden Diener in ihrem Blute, und nur der
Priester stand noch aufrecht und schützte seinen
gefallenen Herrn vor Schimpf und Unbill. 'Ich
sterbe, wie alle Douglas gestorben sind', rief
Graf Jakob dem Priester zu, 'verheimliche meinen
Tod; eine alte Prophezeihung sagt: dem toten
Manne gehört das Feld.' So starb Douglas. Die
Schotten erneuerten den Angriff und machten die
alte Prophezeihung wahr, mit der ihr Führer das
Zeitliche gesegnet hatte. Ralph Percy, der Bruder
des Percy Heißsporn, wurde von Lord Marischal
und gleich darauf Heinrich Percy selbst vom Lord
Montgomery gefangengenommen. Das war am 15.
August 1388. (Fontane, Die Reise nach Schottland
291ff) [1880:] There is some dispute as to
whether the Battle of Otterbourne and the Hunting
of the Cheviot record the same or different
events. The first-mentioned ballad is a veracious
account of a historical event which took place in
1388, during the reign of Richard II of England,
and it was probably written and became popular
shortly after the battle had been fought. The
second ballad [...] seems as if it had been
founded on the same event; but there is some
evidence to show that it may also have referred
to another engagement which took place at
Kipperden, near the Cheviot Hills, fifty-four
years later. [...]
The battle of Otterburne [sic] was an incident in
the invasion of England by the Earl of Fife later
Robert, Duke of Albany , the second son of the
king [Robert II], who, after harrying the western
borders of England, sent [James, 2nd] Earl of
Douglas with three or four thousand men to lay
waste the Bishopric of Durham. This Lord Douglas
accomplished with too great success, and
returning he passed before the gates of
Newcastle, which Sir Harry Percy ['Hotspur', son
of the Earl of Northumberland] held. The latter
had not sufficient force at his command to
encounter Douglas on fairly equal terms; but he
could not bear the insults of his enemy, and
sallied out to break a lance with him. Hotspur
was so unfortunate as to loose [sic] his spear
and pennon [Wimpel], and Douglas swore that he
would hang them on the highest tower of his
castle unless it should be retaken by the owner
before night. This challenge Hotspur was unable
at the moment to accept, being afraid that
Douglas would effect a junction with the main
body of the Scottish army, but when he found that
the Scottish contingent were protracting their
retreat, he went after them on the second day
with an army of 8000 men which he had hastily
collected.
This army came up with Douglas at the village of
Otterbourne, 30 miles from Newcastle, on the
evening of the 15th of August, fatigued with its
long march. Percy at once fell upon the Scots,
and as his force was nearly double that of his
enemy, he was probably certain of an easy
victory. But his men were far from being in good
fighting trim, and the Scots fought with great
bravery. Victory seemed, however, almost to be in
his grasp, when, according to the picturesque
account of Sir Walter Scott, "the Scottish
leader, as the last means of reanimating his
followers, rushed on the advancing enemy with
heroic daring, and cleared a way with his battle
axe into the middle of their ranks. All but alone
and unsupported, Douglas was overpowered by
numbers and sunk beneath three mortal wounds. The
Scots, encouraged by the furious charge of their
chieftain, and ignorant of his fate, renewed the
struggle with Ralph Percy (the brother of
Hotspur) who was made prisoner by the Earl
Mareschal, and soon after Hotspur himself by Lord
Montgomery." The Scots remained on the
field.
The old ballad printed in Percy's Reliques was
taken from a manuscript in the Cotton Library,
and supposed from the handwriting to have been
written in the middle of the sixteenth century. A
copy, though not so complete, is also in the
Harleian collection. The author is unknown, but
the collectors guess, from the use of certain
Scottish words, that he may have been a
Scotchman, though the original must have been
touched up by an Englishman. The inference would
be just as fair if it were reversed. As the
spelling of the old ballad is very uncouth, I
will [...] pass on to the more modern version in
the minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. In the
older version Percy informs Douglas that he will
be well lodged at Otterbourne and have plenty of
sport, and he very courteously handed over the
walls a pipe of wine (there is no mention of the
lance-breaking encounter), and [...] we find no
mention either of the dream or of Douglas's want
of the helmet. It evidently follows the incidents
of the battle more closely. Nor is there anything
about the braken bush or the burial of Douglas,
or of how Percy was captured, though the fact is
mentioned, and also that he was
"borrowed" by Lord Montgomery, or, in
other words, was exchanged for him. (Ord, Glasgow
Weekly Herald, Mar 6)
[1912:] In Professor Hale's paper on
Chevy-Chase the history of the Battle of
Otterbourne is fully described. It is an incident
in the "raid" into English territory
which was undertaken "in revenge of the
invasion of Scotland by Richard II. in
1387". The small division under the command
of Douglas, with which we are concerned, marched
over the Cheviots, pillaged Durham, and
re-crossing the Tyne, halted before Newcastle.
"And then it was, after some skirmishing,
that, according to the ballad, Douglas made a
tryst to meet Percy at Otterbourne." This
Percy is Shakespeare's Hotspur. The longer and
less poetical English version, printed by Bp.
Percy, describes the whole battle with greater
detail, but throws less fire into the personal
contest. (Johnson, Ballads xiv)
[1977:] Known in England as Chevy Chace, it
was first published in 'The Complaynt of
Scotland' 1548 under the title of The Persee and
Montgomery met, that day that gentil day. The
battle took place on the 19th August, 1388
between the Scots led by [the 2nd Earl of]
Douglas and the English led by Percy. As usual,
the Scots were outnumbered and looked to be
losing the day until Douglas himself led an
assault on the English centre. This turned the
tide of the battle in favour of the Scots but at
the price of Douglas slain. Thus was fulfilled a
family legend that a dead Douglas would win the
field. Henry and Ralph Percy were killed and Sir
Henry Percy taken prisoner by Sir Hugh
Montgomery. (Notes Alex Campbell, 'Traditional
Ballads of Scotland')
[1986:] A [...] resounding event which became
famous in Border song and story was the Battle of
Otterburn, fought on 19 August 1388; this affray
had the honour of being described in vivid French
prose by Froissart, and in heroic songs by
English and Scottish ballad makers; the best
known of these - by name at least - is Chevy
Chase (Child 162). There were two distinct
ballads about the battle, and the other, The
Battle of Otterburn (Child 161), is generally
regarded as the older. It is certainly the one
which spawned the variants collected in the
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries which
put the Scots - as opposed to the English - point
of view. It is also the one which modern Revival
singers have put back into 'folk' currency in
recent years:
But I have dreamed a dreary dream
Beyond the isle of Skye
I saw a dead man win a fight
And I think that man was I
This is strong poetry, and there is nothing in
the other rather laboured ballad to match it.
(Henderson, Alias MacAlias 85)
[1988:] When the Scottish barons planned a
full-scale invasion of England in 1388, they
mustered an army of 40,000 fighting men and 1200
lances. Rumours of a counter-raid by Percy, Earl
of Northumberland, led them to split their
forces, sending the main body to Carlisle and the
north-west of England and a much smaller force of
2000 archers and 400 men-at-arms to Newcastle and
the north-east, under the command of James, Earl
Douglas. It was this army which met Percy's
forces at Otterburn, 32 miles from Newcastle. The
Scots, surprised in their sleep, fell back on
prepared defences and managed to outflank the
much larger English army, wearied after their
long march. Sheer weight of numbers began to tell
on the Scots, however, until Douglas stormed
single-handed into the midst of the enemy, thus
encouraging his men and turning the tide of the
battle. He was cut down in the attempt but told
his nephew, Sir Hugh Montgomery, to rally the
troops and ordered his body to be hidden, so that
his men might not be demoralised. The Scots
finally routed the English army and Sir Ralph
Percy, son of the earl was captured. The battle
was fought in moonlight on the 19th of August,
1388. (Notes Tony Cuffe, 'When First I Went To
Caledonia')
[1990:] The Border between England and
Scotland was for centuries a cause of strife, and
even after the line [...] had been agreed between
Henry III of England and Alexander I of Scotland
in the early fourteenth century the lands either
side continued to be disputed territory. The two
royal powers attempted to keep peace in the
Border counties by appointing Wardens, two or
three on each side [...], who were supposed to
work together, with regular international
meetings. The two sovereigns were dependent,
however, upon the powerful noble families in the
area to provide the Wardens, and family feuds
sometimes preventend peaceful co-operation. In
spite of the Wardens, from time to time the
Border areas became troubled by raids [...],
especially when there was political unrest in one
country which gave the other the chance to cause
trouble.
Such was the case in 1388, when the Scots, aware
of political instability in England, where
Richard II was king, took the opportunity to send
two raiding parties over the Border. The larger
went to the western marches, while the smaller,
under James Douglas, got as far south as Durham,
then turned north again, stopped briefly for a
skirmish before the gates of Newcastle, and
withdrew northward to Otterburn. [...] A steeply
sloping field just west of the village, beside
the modern road to Carter Bar and Jedburgh, is
the traditional site for the battle.
The battle itself was not of great importance
politically; it changed nothing in the
relationships between the two countries, and
fourteen years later the same Harry Percy fought
a return match at Homildon Hill on the other main
central route across the Border, this time
defeating James Douglas's cousin Archibald. One
reason why Otterburn became famous was that it
was recorded by the contemporary French
historian, Froissart, whose work was frequently
read and relied upon in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, especially after his history
was translated into English by Lord Berners in
the reign of Henry VIII. A major reason why this
battle was long remembered among all classes in
both countries was because it was also recorded
in song. [...] Child found four related ballads
which mention a battle between Percy and Douglas,
and published them in two groups of two, The
Battle of Otterburn (Child 161) and The Hunting
of the Cheviot (Child 162).[...]
For much of the distance the Border follows the
top of the Cheviot hills. There are many routes
across the Border, even over the Cheviots. The
main central route in medieval times followed the
Roman Dere Street and the modern road by Carter
Bar runs close to this near the village of
Otterburn. The traditional site of the battle
lies north of the River Rede between the Roman
road and the village. The site is now marked by a
late eighteenth century monument, which replaced
the original 'battle stone'. This, usually a
large boulder, was the traditional way of marking
a battle ground [...]. This route by the eastern
edge of the Cheviots opens into the area
dominated by the Percy strongholds of Bamburgh,
Alnwick and Warkworth [...]. Since there were [in
this area] four battles worthy of a 'battle
stone' it is remarkable that only Otterburn seems
to have been remembered in song. [...]
For Jean Froissart, historian of the wars of
fourteenth century Europe, and advocate for the
chivalric ideal, events of 1388 were
contemporary. He had indeed, at an earlier time,
travelled in the Borders, and had met James
Douglas, then a boy. As a dedicated historian,
Froissart sought the truth of what happened at
Otterburn, and he quotes evidence from four men
who had been at the battle. Froissart records
that in 1388, Douglas and his men formed one of
two chevauche'es which entered England to harry
the country. Douglas's party rode south, crossing
the Tyne west of Newcastle, and burned villages
between the Tyne and Durham. The smoke could be
seen from Newcastle, and Percy was sent for to
defend that city. On their return northwards, the
Scots took part in a skirmish outside Newcastle,
[...] "and by force of arms the earl Douglas
won the pennon of sir Henry Percy's, wherewith he
was sore displeased." Percy was especially
upset at the loss of the pennon, because it
touched his honour, and he openly defied Douglas
to carry the pennon out of England.
[...] Here is in sharp contrast war as
experienced by the ordinary people whose homes
were burnt, and war between knights, who spoke to
each other across national boundaries, and for
whom war was a matter of honour, and in which
defeat often meant ransom. The fighting outside
Newcastle was only a scrimmage escarmuche, and
what Froissart emphasised were the expert feats
of arms, appertises d'armes.
Dissuaded from rushing out to attack Douglas that
very night, Percy waited inside Newcastle.
Douglas withdrew, returning northwards, attacking
Ponteland en route, and reaching Otterburn, where
he encamped. Douglas stayed there, seeking double
honour by attacking Otterburn castle and waiting
to allow Percy time to come after the pennon,
which he intended to prevent Percy getting.
On learning where Douglas was Percy set off for
Otterburn without waiting for reinforcements from
Durham. There he arrived as the Scots were
preparing to rest after spending the day
attacking the castle. Although surprised by
Percy, the Scots had time to arm, and to follow
Douglas's strategy of attacking from behind a
rise in the ground. Thus commenced a real battle,
la bataille felle et furieuse. [Percy] nearly got
his pennon back, for the English fought so hard
they 'reculed' the Scots, but two Scots knights
defended the pennon [...] valiantly [...]. In the
battle Douglas was killed, but his death was not
announced. Sir Hugh Montgomery attacked and
defeated Henry Percy, and took him prisoner.
"This battle was fierce and cruel till it
came to the end of the discomfiture; but when the
Scots saw the Englishmen recule and yield
themselves, then the Scots were courteous and set
them to their ransom, and every man said to his
prisoner: 'Sirs, go and unarm you and take your
ease; I am your master': and so made their
prisoners as good cheer as though they had been
brethren, without doing them any damage."
This is indeed chivalrous behaviour between the
knights of both nations. It is in stark contrast
to the fierceness of the battle which left
numbers of young men to be buried beside the
church at Elsdon, the next village. [...]
For the ballad [...] there is inevitably a long
gap between the date of the event itself, 1388,
and the first copies of the texts. The earliest
hint that we have comes from 'The Complaynt of
Scotland', a prose work published in 1549. This
was presented to Mary, Queen of Scots, and
contains a list of the titles of pastimes of the
shepherds, the common people of Scotland. [Thus]
it seems possible that this ballad was already
current by 1549. However, in contrast to the
other three ballads associated with Otterburn,
which are all known from English manuscript
sources before about 1650, the text was first
recorded in 1776. This was Herd's version, B; the
fullest text, C, was published [...] in the
second edition of Scott's 'Minstrelsy of the
Scottish Border' in 1833. Of this ballad Scott
said that it was an earlier version he had found
thirty years before and that it had been
completed by two copies 'obtained from the
recitation of old persons residing at the head of
Ettrick Forest by which the story is brought out
and completed in a manner much more correspondent
with the true history.' Since Herd's version has
the first three introductory stanzas about
Douglas's raid into Northumberland, and then
moves in stanza 4 to Douglas's death it is clear
that much of the story has been lost. Scott is
therefore giving the most complete version
available to him from oral tradition of the
Borders [...]
Since Froissart's account of the battle had been
published long before in French, and had been
translated into English [...], the question of
whether either of the Otterburn (Child 161)
ballads took material from Froissart must be
considered. Naturally, there are many
similarities. All the accounts agree on the date
and time of year. [...] Both mention that Douglas
burned part of the countryside, but the ballad
speaks of parts of Northumberland, including
Bambroughshire, which was too far east to be en
route between Otterburn and Newcastle but which
was open to attack by the Coldstream/Wooler route
often taken by invading Scots. Froissart makes it
clear that Douglas went swiftly without doing
damage until he got south of the Tyne, and then
started burning villages near Durham.
Chronicle and ballads agree that the battle took
place at night; the ballad is quite clear that
the place is Otterburn. (Doubts have been raised
by those who study Froissart about the site of
the battle, but to my mind the name he gives the
place - Ottebourg - suggests the traditional
site.) In Froissart Douglas was killed in the
press of battle by an unknown person, while in
the ballad Percy kills Douglas in hand to hand
fighting, without knowing who he was, and the
death of Douglas is concealed. Froissart tells of
the burial of Douglas at Melrose, while the
ballad says that Douglas was buried at the
bracken bush. Both ballad and chronicle agree
that Percy was captured by Montgomery.
Froissart of course has a full account of the
causes and events leading up to the battle, as he
has also of events afterwards. The ballad is more
selective. [...] This is the difference between
the historian's account, inclusive and balanced,
and the ballad's, selective and patriotic. [...]
The capture of the pennon is an important piece
of evidence. [...] None of the versions [of the
ballad] mention the pennon. I believe that the
absence of the pennon episode supports the view
of Sir Walter Scott as a genuine ballad
collector, for we know that he possessed
Froissart both in French and in two English
translations, and if he had been in the habit of
putting in non-traditional elements he would
surely have put in the pennon. But he recorded
and printed an incomplete version in 1803, and
this much longer one later. [...] Paradoxically,
it is the mistakes, such as including
Bambroughshire as being burnt and stating that
Douglas was buried at the bracken bush, which
reinforce the impression that the similarities
between ballad and chronicle arise because both
are about the same event, rather than because the
ballad is derived from the chronicle. Whatever
the ultimate origin of this ballad, by the late
eighteenth century it was clearly widespread in
the border areas of lowland Scotland from where
it was collected several times. [...]
The structure of this ballad is held together by
time sequence [and] by ironic comments which
foreshadow the end. [...] The dead man does
indeed win the fight, by being hidden in the
bracken bush, to which Percy is asked to yield.
Stanza 19 [see Henderson above] is only found in
this ballad. The 'dead man' may clearly be taken
literally, yet it may also have connotations, as
of the walking dead man of Scandinavian and some
British folk lore. The idea of second sight, or a
premonition of one's own death, is not usual in
ballads; possibly there is some influence here
from Celtic sources. [...] This construction,
based on anticipation and repetition, is in the
best of oral tradition. Scott's version is
supported by others, collected in the same
period. One of these, published by Herd in 1776,
has a different account of how Douglas was killed
[by an enraged page-boy with a penknife]. This
incident is most unlikely; it goes against all
other accounts of Douglas's death, which seems to
have occurred in the middle of the battle. (But
there is a suggestion, in a tradition recorded by
Hume and Godscroft and mentioned by Child, that
Douglas was killed during the battle by a
discontented servant.) [...] I suggest that what
has happened here is that in the process of oral
transmission, the account of Douglas's death was
forgotten, and to fill the gap a singer slipped
in some stanzas and formulae about a killing.
[...] Again, paradoxically, this flaw in two
versions from tradition supports the view that
this ballad was truly traditional in Scotland,
that it was not created from a reading of
Froissart, and that it records the Scottish view
of the events of the battle of Otterburn. [...]
The usefulness of a ballad such as this as
historical evidence is not great, for it is too
slippery and too uncertain in interpretation. In
this ballad the facts have been selected to make
Douglas the hero, and as well there is a strongly
chivalric tone. [...] In this chivalric tone this
version is reminiscent of Froissart's work.
However, chivalry went in and out of fashion over
the centuries. It seems really to have been
practised between knights during Froissart's own
time [...] and was revived again in the romantic
period, when Scott's own influence was great. So
it is impossible to date the ballad from the
chivalric tone. [...] The narrative takes for
hero Douglas, a Scot who was tragically to die,
and this nationalist and romantic slant would
have been acceptable in some parts of Scotland in
the years after the '45.
Whether or not the strongly Scottish
interpretation of the events of August 1388 is a
true account cannot be decided; what does appear
is the national fervour, the artistic creation of
a story in song, and, perhaps, some indication of
the changes that a folksong undergoes as it is
passed down the generations.
(Gardner-Medwin/Williams, A Day Estivall 81ff)
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