Hireman Chiel, The

DESCRIPTION: A baron's son disguised as a laborer wins the heart of a young lady. Her parents do not approve, but they escape together and at last the young man reveals his station.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1904 (Greig/Duncan5)
LONG DESCRIPTION: A baron's son, told by his father to marry, disguises himself as a laborer to find a lady who will marry for love. He sees a beauty at a castle gate, and gets himself hired by the grieve. The lady falls in love (of course), and writes him a letter to arrange a meeting. They meet, declare their love, and arrange to meet again by night, with the young man's assurances not to wrong her honor. They begin meeting every night, and her parents become suspicious. She tells the young man of her father's threats to hang him, and he scoffs at them. But they are overheard and confronted by her mother. The young man departs, telling the mother her daughter is still marriageable. A nobleman courts and wins the young lady, but as they are going to be married the young man reappears and the two lovers escape. The father pursues them to the young man's home. His identity revealed, the young man asks the father's blessing, saying, "Seven years I served for her sake, But now I've got my fee."
KEYWORDS: courting disguise nobility worker love virginity family
FOUND IN: Britain(Scotland(Aber))
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Ord-BothySongsAndBallads, pp. 480-486, "The Hireman Chiel" (1 text)
Greig-FolkSongInBuchan-FolkSongOfTheNorthEast #146, pp. 1-2, "The Hireman Chiel"; #67, pp. 1-2, "The Hireman Chiel" (2 texts)
Greig/Duncan5 1055, "The Hireman Chiel" (11 texts plus a fragment on p. 636, 7 tunes)
Buchan-ABookOfScottishBallads 64, "The Hireman Chiel" (1 text, 1 tune in appendix)
ST DBuch64 (Full)
Roud #5624
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Errol on the Green" (tune, per Greig/Duncan5)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
The Baron Turned Ploughman
NOTES [36 words]: That last section ("Seven years I served for her sake, But now I've got my fee") sounds to me very much like an echo of the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Laban (Gen. 29:15-30) -- but I suppose it could be coincidence. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: DBuch64

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