Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 25, 1914.djvu/241

 Collectanea. 213

of an introduction describing some rural scene or commenting upon some feature of nature, followed as a rule by the complaint of a betrayed or slighted lover. For instance, in No. 7 the fleeting visit of the wild geese on their eastward migration recalls to the singer the brief days of her happiness with a faithless lover, and again in No. 9 a contrast is drawn, in the introduction, between the wild dove that can mate as it wishes and the singer whose lover has deserted her. The atmosphere of No. 8 is much gayer than usual, and the complaint of the maiden who cannot attract as many lovers as she would like, is prompted rather by boredom than despair, — a suggestion which is rendered more probable by the gaiety of the music.

Nos. 9 and 10 might at first sight be thought to be variants of the same song, but the fact that both music and subject are so dissimilar renders tiiis supposition improbable. The resemblance between the words of the first stanza of each song, and again between the third stanza of No. 9 and the eighth stanza of No. 10, may be accounted for by the fact that the stanzas indicated have been interpolated in an entirely different and more modern song. This view is supported by the disjointed character of No. 10, which is clearly of a later date than the preceding one. Further, both songs are never found in the same locality, the older one, which is now very seldom met with, being found in districts to the south-east of those in which the more modern one is sung. The sentiment expressed by the man who chooses so cavalierly between his two sweethearts, and by the woman who is so prodigal of her favours, is undoubtedly a rough attempt at humour and light- heartedness rather than deliberate cruelty and wantonness.

No. IX, like No. 5, is written somewhat in the form of a ballad, and tells of the adventures of a maiden and her Cossack lover. The -pike which inhabits most White Ruthenian streams and rivers is considered both swift and graceful. The Cossack is clearly therefore paying the maiden a compliment w'hen he mistakes her drowning efforts for the play of a pike-fish, scuka- rj;ba. In the last stanza, " to gnaw at the foot of a mountain " means most probably " to work in a mine." This at once suggests that the mines referred to were those of Siberia, but this can hardly be the case, since that form of punishment was unknown in