The Fause Knight Upon the Road
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The Fause Knight Upon the Road is a British ballad, collected and published as Child ballad 3, Roud 20. It features a riddling exchange between a schoolboy and a "false knight," the devil in disguise.[1]
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[edit] Synopsis
The knight asks the boy where he is going, and what he is carrying (books). He asks after the sheep, which belong to the boy and his mother, and how many belong to the knight—as many as have blue tails. The knight may wish him in a tree, the boy to have a ladder, the knight to have it break, and so on.
Throughout any exchange, the boy is described as standing fast. This appears to be the condition that will save him.
[edit] Commentary
The boy's ability to evade the devil may spring from the devil's inability to dumbfound him; gaining power over people by this means is a motif found in other folktales.[2]
A Swedish variant features the little boy, but an old woman, presumably a witch, in the place of the knight.[2]
[edit] Recordings
- Steeleye Span recorded this song as "False Knight on the Road" on their 1971 album Please to See the King.
- The Blue Velvet Band recorded this song as "The Knight Upon the Road" on their 1969 album Sweet Moments.
- Stephan Said recorded "The False Knight on the Road" and a version re-written as an anti-war anthem on the 2002 EP The Bell which included Pete Seeger and Tara Nevins.
- Richard Thompson has performed a version of this song on recent[when?] tours.
- Fleet Foxes recorded this song as the b-side to the 7" release of "Mykonos" in 2009. This version features different lyrics to the original.
- Oysterband recorded this song on the CD The Oxford Girl & Other Stories in 2008 and on the CD Single "This Is The Voice" in 1999.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Francis James Child, English and Scottish Popular Ballads, "The Fause Knight Upon the Road"
- ^ a b Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, v 1, p 20, Dover Publications, New York 1965
[edit] External links
- "Scottish Ballads Online" Child Ballad #3: 'The Fause Knight Three variants from Francis J Child's collection and link to versions from the living tradition.
- The Smart Schoolboy
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