"Brown Robyn's Confession" is
Child ballad
The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...
57.
Synopsis
Brown Robyn goes to sea. On board ship, they are unable to see any lights in the sky. They "cast kevels" (drew lots) which indicated that the problem was because of Brown Robyn. He confesses to
incest
Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...
ous relations with his mother (who bore him two children) and his sister (who bore five), or, in other variants, to killing his father. He tells them to tie him to a piece of wood and let him sink or swim.
He swims.
Our Blessed Lady, with her "dear young son", appears to him and asks him if he would return to his men or come to heaven with her and her child. He asks to go to heaven. She tells him that it is not for any good he has done but for confessing his sin that he may come.
Motifs
This is the only instance in the ballad collection of a very common folk legend, of the Virgin Mary.
[Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 2, p 13, Dover Publications, New York 1965] This is also found in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, but the ballad usually ends tragically for the hero; only one instance saves him, also by a supernatural intervention.
The motif of the lots and throwing a person from the ship may be derived from the tale of
Jonah
Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spo ...
. Another ballad featuring these motifs is ''
Bonnie Annie'', Child ballad 24. It also appears in the Russian
fairy tale ''
Sadko'', where Sadko must jump overboard to appease the King of the Sea.
[Francis James Child, ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', v 2, p 15, Dover Publications, New York 1965]
See also
*
List of the Child Ballads
References
External links
''Brown Robyn’s Confession''''Scottish National Dictionary - Definition of Kevel''
Child Ballads
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