Gude and Godlie Ballatis
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scs S-nrsi, j>7 £be Scottish Geyt Society THE GUDE AND GODLIE BALLATIS A COMPENDIOUS BOOK OF GODLY AND SPIRITUAL SONGS COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE GUDE AND GODLIE BALLATIS ’ REPRINTED FROM THE EDITION OF 1567 EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY A. F. MITCHELL, D.D., LL.D. EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, ST ANDREWS Printet) far tfje iSomtg tig WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON MDCCCXCVII All Rights reserved CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION, ........ vii I. VERNACULAR HYMNOLOGY, ..... viii [a) On Continent of Europe, .... viii [d) In England, . x (c) In Scotland, .... xi 1. Earliest efforts, . xii 2. Buchanan and Lyndsay’s services, . xiv 3. The Wedderhurns’ services, . xiv II. MORE DETAILED ACCOUNT— (a) James Wedderburn, . xix (b) Robert Wedderburn, ..... xxiv {c) John Wedderburn, ..... xxvi III. COMPENDIOUS BOOK OF PSALMS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS— (a) Its origin, ...... xxxii (b) Early editions of it, . xxxiii (c) Reprints of it, . xl 1. Sir J. G. Dalyell’s, of edition 1621, . xl 2. Mr David Laing’s, of edition 1578, . xl (d) Sources of the book, . xli (e) Its contents, ...... xlvi 1. Its Catechism in prose and metre, . xlvi 2. First part of Spiritual Songs proper, . xlviii 3. Its Second part, Psalms and Hymns, . 1 4. Its Third part, Ballads and Satirical Poems, . li (/) Doctrinal teaching of the book, . lv (g) Its merits, ...... Ivii (h) Objections taken to it, . , , Ixi (i) Its relation to Coverdale’s Psalms and Spiritual Songs,. Ixvi The Ballad, “ Say-well and do-well,” ..... Ix'xii The Ballad, “ Welcum, Fortoun,” ..... Ixxv Bibliography of the several editions of book, .... Ixxx iv CONTENTS. Appendix I.—Kinship of the Wedderburns of Angus, . Ixxxiii it II.—George Wishart, . cv ii III.—The Spiritualising of Secular Songs and Appropriation of their Tunes, . cix ii IV.—Coverdale’s Goostly Psalmes and Spirituall Songes, . cxiv CORRIGENDA, . CXXVi ADDENDUM, ........ CXXvi FACSIMILES OF TITLE-PAGES TO EDITIONS OF 1576, 1600, AND l62I. LITHOGRAPH OF PAGES OF EDITION OF 1567. A KALLENDER WITH AN ALMANACK FOR 12 YERES. THE PROLOGVE, ....... I THE TEXT OF THE CATECHISME, ..... 2 THE CATECHISME PUT IN METER, ..... 7 CERTANE GRACIS TO BE SUNG OR SAID BEFOIR MBIT OR EFTER, . l8 SPIRITUALL SANGIS— Ane Confessioun of sin, with ane prayer, . .21 Ane Sang of our coruiptit nature, and the onlie remeid thairof, . 24 Ane sang of the flesche and the Spirit, . .25 Ane Sang of the Croce, and the frute thairof, . .28 Ane Consolatioun in aduersitie, . .32 The Forlorne Sone, ...... 34 Ane sang of the ryche Gluttoun, and pure Lazarus, . 39 The principall pointis of the Passioun, . .42 Ane sang of the Euangell, ...... 46 Ane sang of the birth of Christ, ..... 49 To vs is borne a bame of blis, . 51 In dulci Jubilo, ....... 53 Onlie to God on hicht be gloir, . .54 Of the greit louing and blyithnes of Goddis word, . • SS Nunc dimittis, . 57 Ane sang of the resurrectioun, ..... 58 CERTAINE BALLATIS OF THE SCRIPTURE— Till Christ, quhome I am haldin for to lufe, . -59 Rycht sorelie musing in my mynde, . .61 Rycht sore opprest I am with panis smart, . .62 Allace that same sweit face, ..... 63 I call on the, Lord Jesu Christ, ..... 65 WeOf mercy suld into zit heremembrance passis all, of...... Jesus Christ, . .68 66 CONTENTS. CERTAINE BALLATIS OF THE SCRIPTURE—continued. Hay Zule [Zule] now sing and mak myrth,. .69 In Burgh & land, ....... 70 Ane carrell contrair Idolatrie, . .71 Ane Carrell of the Epistill on Zule Euin, . .72 Of thingis twa, I pray the, Lord, ..... 73 Lord, Father God, that gaif me lyfe, . .74 Grace hefoir dennar. Blis, blissit God, . -75 [Grace efter dennar]. Blissing, gloir, wisdome, . -75 Now lat vs sing with joy and myrth, . -75 Quha can discriue or put in write, ..... 77 Gif ze half rissin from deide agane,..... 79 Quha suld my mellodie amend, ..... 82 Lat vs reioyis and sing, ...... 83 THE PSALMES OF DAUID, WITH VTHER NEW PLESAND BALLATIS— Quhat is the cause, ....... 85 Saif vs, gude Lord,....... 88 O Lord how lang, ....... 89 O Lord quha sail, ....... 90 The Lord [God] is my Pastor gude, . .91 Ze rychteous reioyis, ...... 93 Thow sail not follow, ...... 95 0 Lord aduert, ....... 99 Till trew in hart, ....... 101 God, for Thy grace, ...... 103 Quha on the hiest will depend, ..... 106 Quhen fra Egipt, . • . 109 Except the Lord, ....... m Fra deip, O Lord, . .112 At the Reueris of Babilone, . .114 1 will the loue, ....... 115 The Hethin folk, . .117 Haif mercy on me, God of mycht, ..... 120 Blissit ar thay, . .130 For lufe of one, ....... 131 Quho is at my windo, ...... 132 O God be mercyfull to vs, . .136 In till ane myrthfull Maij morning, . • 137 All myne hart ay, . 139 My lufe murnis for me, ...... 140 Tell me now, ....... 141 My Saule dois magnifie the Lord, ..... 143 Christ thow art the lycht, . .144 Christ is the onlie Sone of God, ..... 145 Christ Jesus is ane A. per C., . .147 Allone I weip in greit distres, ..... 147 The Lord sayis I will schaw, ..... 148 Greuous is my sorrow, . .151 vi CONTENTS. THE PSALMES OF DAUID, ETC.—continued. lohne, cum kis me now, . 158 Lord lat me neuer be confoundit, . .161 Go, hart, vnto the lampe of lycht, ..... 162 Our brother lat vs put in graue, ..... 163 Musing greitlie in my mynde, . 165 Pray God for grace, ...... 167 Downe be zone Riuer I ran, ..... 168 With heuie hart full of distres, . .170 Welcum, Lord, Christ, . .171 0 Christ, quhilk art the lycht, . 173 With huntis vp, . 174 Baneist is Faith, . .177 Musing greitlie in my mynde, . .178 The Bischop of Hely, . .180 1 am wo for thir wolfis sa wylde, . .182 Allace! vnkyndlie, Christ, . .185 Of the fals fyre of Purgatorie, . .186 Way is the Hirdis of Israeli, ..... 187 God send euerie Preist ane wyfe, . .188 The wind blawis cauld, . .189 Hay now the day dallis, . .192 Preistis, Christ beleue, . .195 Till our gude man, . 198 Remember man, ....... 200 The Paip, that Pagane full of pryde, .... 204 Say weill, and do weill, ...... 207 Knaw ze not God Omnipotent, ..... 209 Ane dissuasioun from vaine lust, . .213 All my lufe leif me not, ...... 220 Welcum, Fortoun, ....... 222 THE TABILL [OF CONTENTS]. .223 APPENDIX I.—PIECES FOUND IN LATER EDITIONS, . .229 n II.—NOTES ON “ SPIRITUALL SANGIS, PSALMES, AND BALLATIS,” ...... 240 BOOKS SPECIALLY CONSULTED IN PREPARING THIS VOLUME, BESIDES OTHERS INCIDENTALLY MENTIONED IN PARTICULAR NOTES, . 297 APPENDIX III.—TUNES, ...... 299 GLOSSARY, ........ 309 INTRODUCTION. In 1887-88 I edited for this Society ‘The Richt Vay to the Kingdome of Hevin,’—the earliest known prose trea- tise in the Scottish dialect, setting forth the doctrines of the Reformers,—and in the Introduction, prefixed to it, I gave some account of the author, and of the sources from which his work was derived. It has seemed to me, that it would be a not inappropriate sequel to that work, that I should now edit the earliest known metrical treatise in our native tongue, which formally set forth the faith and teaching of the Reformers, and had a far more power- ful influence on the course of events, and which it can now be shown was drawn from sources similar to those from which Gau also drew,—the writings of Luther and his followers—not, however, from their prose, but from their hymnological writings, which had hardly less influence in helping on the movement they had begun. The new and vigorous spiritual life which had been aroused or quickened in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen- turies, through the earnest study of the Word of God in Vlll INTRODUCTION. Vernac- the vernacular, poured itself out in a continuous stream ular of popular sacred song, which diffused its influence more hym- NOLOGY. widely and made it penetrate more deeply. In Bohemia (a) On this had been so more or less even from the days of John Continent of Europe. Hus. Indeed there, as one of the most recent writers on the subject tells us,1 “the demand for the use of the vernacular in church worship was even more fundamental than the similar desire in Germany, and preceded rather than followed the movement toward reform. Hus was also a prototype of Luther, in that he was virtually the founder of the Bohemian hymnody. He wrote hymns both in Latin and in Czech, and earnestly encouraged the use of vernacular songs by the people, and a number of the finest of these were ultimately translated into German.” In Italy, as another has it, “ from the Gulf of Genoa to the Adriatic Sea, in the deep valleys, among the purple Apennines, and even in queenly Florence, which a few years later sent the bold friar of San Marco to heaven in a chariot of fire, simple Italian ballads, con- taining some of the elementary truths of the Gospel, were rapidly winning their way among the common people; and Savonarola was altogether right when he trusted the truths which make wise unto salvation to these airy mes- sengers.” It was not the first time that God had chosen “ the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.” “Thirty years later the German churches were ringing with the hymns of Luther, Eber, Sachs, and Weisse, and the poetry of the Reformation wedded to popular music was treasured in the households ” of the faithful from the mountains of Switzerland to the swamps of Holland and 1 Professor Dickinson in ‘North American Review,’ October 1895. INTRODUCTION. ix the shores of the Baltic, and from the banks of the Rhine to those of the Vistula and the Danube, gaining entrance for the teaching of the Reformers, where neither them- selves 1 nor their prose writings were allowed access.2 The hymns then composed laid the foundation of one of the largest and noblest treasures of Hymnology which the Chris- tian Church yet possesses, and the worth and influence of which were felt even within the old Church, and still con- tinue to be shown by translations of its finest hymns into our own and other languages.