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The Fause Knight Upon the Road / False Knight on the Road

[ Roud 20 ; Child 3 ; Ballad Index C003 ; The False Knight Upon the Road at Fire Draw Near ; The Fause Knicht at Muckle Sangs ; Wiltshire 869 ; trad.]

The False Knight Upon the Road is printed in Motherwell’s 1827 book, Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern.

Eliza Coates of Flag Pond, Tennessee sang The False Knight Upon the Road on 1 September 1916 to Cecil Sharp. He included this in his and Maud Karpeles’ book English Folk Songs From the Southern Appalachians. Brian Peters sang this version in 2013 on his and Jeff Davis’ CD Sharp’s Appalachian Harvest. He noted:

Sung by Eliza Coates, Flag Pond TN, 1 September 1916
Sharp and Karpeles had spent twelve hours and covered fourteen footsore miles in a fruitless day’s hunting when they spotted a lonely mountain cabin and, in near despair, decided to call. Within minutes they’d landed one of the greatest prizes of Sharp’s entire career, an unusually fine version of a rare ballad (Child 3) describing a battle of wits between a schoolchild and the Devil. Mrs. Coates lived with her husband in poverty near to the hamlet of Flag Pond, just across the state line from Sharp’s fruitful hunting grounds in North Carolina. She supplied him with several more songs, but nothing to match this.

Bella Higgins sang The False Knight Upon the Road to Hamish Henderson in 1955 (School of Scottish Studies SA 1955/62), This recording was included in c.1962 on the Prestige anthology Folksongs & Music From the Berryfields of Blair. Duncan MacPhee sang it to Hamish Henderson in 1955 too (SA 1955/81), and Nellie MacGregor a one-verse fragment in 1954 (SA 1954/99). All three versions were included in 1974 on the Tangent anthology The Muckle Sangs (Scottish Tradition 5). Hamish Henderson and Ailie Munro noted:

When Professor Child drafted his article on ‘this singular ballad’ he had two versions only to go on—both printed by Motherwell in his Minstrelsy. The first of these was the famous Fause Knight of the anthologies, and the second no more than a one-verse fragment, plus a time. By the time he came to compile Additions and Corrections to Vol. 1, however, there was a third version to be added; this had been contributed by the indefatigable William Macmath of Edinburgh, who got it from the recitation of his Aunt, Miss Jane Webster, formerly of Airds of Kells, Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, Galloway. His sister also provided, for Child’s Appendix of Tunes, an air for the ballad which is “Rhythmatically the exact counterpart of Motherwell’s first text”.

Collecting in the United States has provided a number of supplementary versions, although Coffin states; “American texts of this song are quite rare, and it is [Arthur K.] Davis’ opinion they emanate from Virginia… to a large extent”. Hearing of the Scots versions in the School’s archives, Mr. Sean O’Boyle of Armagh asked for, and got, a North Irish version in 1958.

We are dealing, therefore, with what is, and what always seems to have been, a comparatively rare ballad. There is no version in Greig’s Last Leaves, and all the versions tape-recorded by the School are, to a greater or lesser extent, fragmentary.

Referring to the ballads in which riddles and tricks serve as the material for the narrative, Professor G.H. Gerould says: “Perhaps the strangest of all such ballads is the Fause Knight Upon the Road, in which a young boy has to find ready replies to the questions put to him, or be carried off, presumably by the devil.” The identity of the ‘False Knight’ is never explicitly stated in the Scots variants, but the singers nearly all, when asked to talk about the song, and its meaning, explain that he is meant to be the devil. In the Irish version mentioned above, the homiletic character of the ballad is heavily underlined.

We first got an indication that the ballad had survived in oral tradition when a travelling woman, Nellie MacGregor, then living in Aberdeen, sang a one-verse fragment (our c.) which sounded as if it might have been used as a dandling song. Later, during the 1955 berryfield season in Blairgowrie we were lucky enough to secure the two additional versions which precede Nellie’s fragment on this disc. Bella Higgins, sister to Alec Stewart (of ‘the Stewarts of Blair’ fame) recognised Nellie’s fragment when it was sung to her, and promptly contributed her own version. Then she told us that one of the young lads camped at the Standing Stones berryfield could also sing it, and we eventually located 19-year old Duncan MacPhee who turned out to be the right bloke. Duncan was reluctant to record at first—in fact, he jumped up from the camp-fire and tried to escape, and had to be pursued and carried back, kicking and struggling, by the other lads in the encampment—but finally he was induced to make the present open air recording.

Our tunes are reminiscent of the first half of The Old Lee Rig or The Rose Tree strathspey, from Neil Gow’s A Second Collection of Strathspey Reels, etc., Edinburgh [1788]. In the early 19th century Tom Moore used it as the air for his song I’d Mourn the Hopes. Connoisseurs of the incongruous will be diverted to know that it is also the obvious original of the tune of Sir Harry Lauder’s song Stop Yer ticklin’, Jock.

Commenting on the tunes in his collection, Bronson states: “Perhaps the basic rhythmical pattern of them all is that of a reel.” The Nova Scotia tune collected by Helen Creighton seems to have the same dance associations: her indication of tempo is ‘Very quickly, in jig time’.

The first two tunes here are identical, with the exception of one note: that for ‘said‘/’cries’ in the second half of each verse. (The two halves of the tune are identical save for the last two notes, so that the mid-cadence is on the 2nd of the scale, and the final cadence is on the tonic). But the interpretations of the singers are very different and will produce varying reactions in listeners; to this listener, Bella’s suggests the sly cunning of the wee boy, and Duncan’s the element of high drama.

Nellie MacGregor’s presents a third contrast: she sings the verse in one breath, at a faster tempo and with a lilting, regular beat. Her tune is really the same as Bella’s and Duncan’s, but with the cadential differences ironed out; and she starts at the second bar of the 4-bar phrase, so that instead of a b c d the pattern is b c d a, a phenomenon sometimes found in variants of a tune.

Frank Quinn of Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, sang False Knight on the Road in a recording made in 1958 by Sean O’Boyle on the anthology The Child Ballads 1 (The Folk Songs of Britain Volume 4; Caedmon 1961; Topic 1968). The album’s booklet noted:

An old fisherman told Quinn that “the knight was some kind of emissary of the devil, some sort of a spectre or ghost like, that inhabited a certain part of the road. It was fatal for a person to move confrontin’ this thing and this dialogue was a test of the child, to see if he was well fortified for the ultimate end.” This story of encountering the Devil, of defying him, and often of routing him by saying God’s name, is an old one. Bronson (p. 34) feels that the tune has a common ancestor, probably rooted in Scotland; thence it has spread to the United States and, in this case, to Northern Ireland. Indeed, Quinn had this song from his grandfather who came to live on Coal-Island in Lough Neagh, when he was a boy. Robbie Burns was the favourite poet of the district and his grandfather, who read Ovid among other good literature, taught him other ballads, such as Lord Randall and Edward, also imported from Scotland. Perhaps the most interesting American version appears on the record, Folk Music of Nova Scotia, Band 21; Folkways FM 4006, Helen Creighton.

Archie Fisher sang The Child on the Road in 1968 on his eponymous Transatlantic album Archie Fisher.

Norman Kennedy sang The Fause Knight Upon the Road in 1968 on his Folk-Legacy album Ballads & Songs of Scotland. Peter Hall noted:

Child prints only two versions of this, the third ballad in his great collection. A number of other versions have been found in recent years, but the ballad remains comparatively rare in oral tradition. The text used here is similar to the Child “B” text, which was taken from the appendix in Motherwell’s Minstrelsy. Norman learned the ballad in school.

Tim Hart and Maddy Prior recorded False Knight on the Road in 1971 for their third duo album Summer Solstice. Their version comes quite indirectly from the singing of Maud Long, whose mother, Jane Gentry, was one of the singers from whom Cecil Sharp gathered songs in North Carolina in 1916. It is considerably modified from the version recorded for the Library of Congress in 1947 by Maud Long. Two other versions are available by Joe Hickerson and Betty Smith.

Steeleye Span sang False Knight on the Road in their second album Please to See the King. Martin Carthy’s low, sneaky vocals and the driving bass and percussion makes one nearly forget that this is a drummer-less band. Steeleye Span performed the song live on the BBC radio programme “Peel’s Sunday Concert” on 15 September 1971. This programme was included as bonus CD on the 2006 reissue of Ten Man Mop or Mr Reservoir Butler Rides Again.

A live recording of this song from 7 March 1978 at Winter Gardens, Bornemouth, can be found on Steeleye’s album Live at Last!. Martin Carthy sings the first four verses, then there is a long coda with the tune Monck’s March, and Maddy Prior finishes with the last three verses. This track was included in 2001 on the Martin Carthy anthology The Carthy Chronicles. The latter album’s sleeve notes state:

Riddle-solving forms the base of this most ancient ballad. The child who wittily answers the false knight’s questions is actually saving his soul from the devil (in disguise?). One wrong answer and you’re whipped away to hell, which as a format is far more gripping than any TV show-quiz.

Lea Nicholson sang The False Knight on the Road in 1971 on his Trailer album Horsemusic.

Pete and Chris Coe sang The False Knight on the Road in 1972 on their Trailer album Open the Door and Let Us In. They noted:

A Cheshire version of the widespread ballad. Enter devil (false knight) armed with riddles to win the child’s soul—child guesses riddles—exit defeated devil.

Fiddler’s Dram sang False Knight on the Road in 1978 on their Dingle‘s album To See the Play, and Oysterband sang it in 2008 on their album The Oxford Girl and Other Stories where they noted:

Child Ballad #3, approximately as sung by Maddy Prior and Tim Hart. Ballads don’t all have 85 verses, though few are quite as condensed as this. The ‘knight’ is presumably the Devil, or one of his agents, and the idea is that if the little boy doesn’t answer smartly, he’ll be carried off to hell. That sounds old; in fact there doesn’t seem to be any written record of the song before William Motherwell’s Minstrelsy Ancient and Modern (1827). It turned up later in the 19th century in the Appalachians—maybe the plot appealed to American Puritans’ sense of the world as a morally dangerous place?

Five Hand Reel sang The Child on the Road on their 1978 album Earl o’ Moray.

Peggy Seeger sang The False Knight on the Road in 1979 in her and Ewan MacColl’s album Blood & Roses Volume 1. They noted:

Here we have a truly ancient subject for balladry, folk tale and folklore: the conflict between good and evil. The False Fidee is, of course, the devil and the child is teetering on the brink of Hell. The dialogue form is well-established in the tradition, housing classic content in classic form.

Riddling is a time-honoured human occupation. Traditionally, it was practiced at crucial periods in the human life cycle: birth and death, courtship and marriage, sowing and reaping, etc. It has very strong religious and supernatural overtones, even in modern times when riddling is a vehicle not only for mundane affairs or hilarious sly surrealistic subject matter but also for overt social comment. Riddling was entertainment, but it was also for the instruction of the young, to help develop a sense of the world, a sense of values and a good wit at the same time.

The ballad was recited as well as sung. It appeared quite regularly in textbooks, yet never became what one might call a “popular piece”. Our text, from Indiana, is fairly broken down and could be regarded as a typical American example. It still contains the stark confrontation which renders the older Scandinavian and Scots versions almost as fairy tales; it lacks only the richness of imagery that an old language in an old civilisation confers upon a work of verbal art.

Jumpleads sang False Knight in 1983 on a Rogue single. This track was included in 1987 on the Folk Roots anthology Square Roots, and in 1989 on the Rogue anthology CD Jali House Rock,

Claire Mann sang The Knight on the Road on Tabache’s 1996 album Are You Willing?. They noted:

The words of this song were published in The Irish Song Tradition of Sean Boyle. It tells the story of a young boy who meets the Devil on the road. This boy who, by chance, was well read when it came to Satanic practices, knew the Devil would do him no harm if he stood in one place.

Jock Tamson’s Bairns sang Fause Knicht on the Road in 2005 on their Greentrax album Rare. They noted:

The story of the devil’s failed attempts to lead a young boy astray. The ‘peats’ were in fact his school fees for the day. There are many European versions of this song, and this one is based on an example from the North East of Scotland.

Chris & Siobhan Nelson learned False Knight on the Road from the singing of Tim Hart and Maddy Prior and recorded it for their 2006 album, Day Has Dawned.

Jonny Dyer sang his own retelling William in 2009 on Vicki Swan’s and his CD Gleowien. He noted:

This is our synthesis of the Child Ballad #3 The Smart Schoolboy. Following the pattern of the New Brunswick version (False False Fly), this song is further changed in two ways: The lyrics highlight the boy’s vulnerability as an orphan and the baddie is a man dressed in gold—representing greed and corruption.

Niamh Boadle sang The Knight Upon the Road on her 2010 CD Wild Rose. She noted:

I found this in a rambly old book of songs, and promptly changed the tune. It’s one of those where the devil is in disguise, trying to tempt the innocent to Hell.

Gavin Davenports sang False Knight in 2010 on his Hallamshire Traditions album Brief Lives. He noted.

In WWII my grandfather, Digby Davenport was a forward artillery spotter being ‘minded’ by members of the Canadian ‘Timberwolf’ Division. This song commemorates the day in 1944 when the Canadian officer commanding the group destroyed a Tiger tank at point blank range with a shoulder-launched projectile. This action cost him his life as the tank would otherwise have killed the rest of the unit. I wouldn’t be here, or singing, without his sacrifice.

Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts sang False Knight in 2012 as the one traditional song on their CD The Innocent Left.

The Outside Track sang False Knight on the Road in 2012 on their CD Flash Company. They noted:

This version of the popular Child ballad come from Tony Small of Galway. Norah [Rendell] learned it from Mirella Murray and Tola Custy’s album Three Sunsets. Disguised as a knight, the trickster poses riddles to the child with the intent of luring him away to hell if he answers them incorrectly. The educated boy, armed with his ‘good book’ and common sense, answers all the riddles and keeps walking along his own sure part.

The Owl Service learned The False Knight from Tim Hart and Maddy Prior’s album and sang it in 2016 on their CD His Pride. No Spear. No Friend..

Ian Bruce and Jez Lowe sang Knight on the Road in 2023 on Ian Bruce’s album of collaborations, Together Forever. He noted:

We chosen the song I’d always loved, Knight on the Road, since I heard the Maddy Prior and Tim Hart version on Summer Solstice. Seems Jez liked that too.

Lyrics

Bella Higgins sings The False Knight Upon the Road

“Oh where are you going?” said the false knight upon the road.
“I’m going to the school,” said the wee boy and still he stood.

“What’s that upon your back?” said the false knight upon the road.
“My bonnock and my books,” said the wee boy and still he stood.

“If I had you at the sea,” said the false knight upon the road.
“And a good ship under me,” said the wee boy and still he stood.

“If I had you at the well,” said the false knight upon the road.
“And you into hell,” said the wee boy and still he stood.

Duncan MacPhee sings The False Knight Upon the Road

“Oh what’s that on your back?” cries the false knight upon the road.
“Sure it’s the bundles and my books,” cries the wee lad and still he stood.

“Oh will you give me share?” cries the false knight upon the road.
“Oh I cannae gie ye share,” cries the wee boy and still he stood.

“Oh whatna sheep an cattle’s that” cries the false knight upon the road.
“Sure it’s my father’s noo an mine,” cries the wee boy and still he stood.

Nellie MacGregor sings The False Knight Upon the Road

“What’s upon your back?” said the false knight upon the road.
“Ma bannocks an ma books,” said the wee boy an still he stood.

Frank Quinn sings False Knight on the Road

“What brings you here so late?” said the knight on the road.
“I go to meet my God,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood,
And ’twere well he stood.
“I go to meet my God,” said the child as he stood.

“How will you go by land?” said the knight on the road.
“With a strong staff in my hand,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood,
And ’twere well he stood.
“With a strong staff in my hand,” said the child as he stood.

“How will you go by sea?” said the knight on the road.
“With a good boat under me,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood,
And ’twere well he stood.
“With a good boat under me,” said the child as he stood.

“Methinks I hear a bell,” said the knight on the road.
“Aye, it’s ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood, and he stood,
And ’twere well he stood.
“Aye, it’s ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.

Norman Kennedy sing The Fause Knight Upon the Road

“Where are you gang?” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“I’m gang tae the school,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.
“What’s that upon your back?” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“It’s only my school pack,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.

“Wha echt’s a’ thae sheep?” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“My mither’s an’ my ain,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.
“How mony o’ them are mine?” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“A’ them that hae blue tails,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.

“I wisht you were in yon tree,” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“An’ a guid branch under me,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.
“An’ the branch for tae brak,” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“An’ ye’s for tae fa’ doon,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.

“I wisht you were in yon sea,” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“An’ a guid boat under me,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.
“An’ the boat for to sink,” quo’ the fause knight upon the road.
“An’ ye’s for to be drowned,” quo’ the wee boy, an’ still he stood.

Tim Hart and Maddy Prior sing False Knight on the Road

“Oh, what brings you here so late?” said the knight on the road.
“I go to meet my God,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood and he stood,
And it’s well that he stood.
“I go to meet my God,” said the child as he stood.

“Oh, how will you go by land?” said the knight on the road.
“With a strong staff in my hand,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood and he stood,
And it’s well that he stood.
“With a strong staff in my hand,” said the child as he stood.

“Oh, how will you go by sea?” said the knight on the road.
“With a good boat under me,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood and he stood,
And it’s well that he stood.
“With a good boat under me,” said the child as he stood.

“Oh, me thinks I hear a bell.” said the knight on the road.
“It’s ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood and he stood,
And it’s well that he stood.
“It’s ringing you to hell,” said the child as he stood.

“Oh, what brings you here so late?” said the knight on the road.
“I go to meet my God,” said the child as he stood.
And he stood and he stood,
And it’s well that he stood.
“I go to meet my God,” said the child as he stood.

Steeleye Span sing False Knight on the Road

“Oh, where are you going?” says the false knight on the road.
“I’m going to me school,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“What is on your back?” says the false knight on the road.
“Me bundles and me books,” says the wee boy and still he stood.

“I came a-walking by your door,” says the false knight on the road.
“That lay in your way,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“Flung your dog a stone,” says the false knight on the road.
“I wish it was a bone,” says the wee boy and still he stood.

“Oh, what sheep and cattle’s that?” says the false knight on the road.
“They’re mine and me father’s,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“And how many shall be mine?” says the false knight on the road.
“The ones that have the blue tail,” says the wee boy and still he stood.

“Oh, can I get a share o’ them?” says the false knight on the road.
“You cannot get a share of them,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“And why the stick all in your hand?” says the false knight on the road.
“To keep me from all cold and harm,” says the wee boy and still he stood.

“Oh, I wish you were in yonder tree,” says the false knight on the road.
“A ladder under me,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“The ladder it’ll break,” says the false knight on the road.
“And you will surely fall,” says the wee boy and still he stood.

“I wish you were in yonder sea,” says the false knight on the road.
“A good boat under me,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“The boat will surely sink,” says the false knight on the road.
“And you will surely drown,” says the wee boy and still he stood.

“Has your mother more than you?” says the false knight on the road.
“Oh, none of them for you,” says the wee boy and still he stood.
“I think I hear a bell,” says the false knight on the road.
“It’s ringing you to hell,” says the wee boy and still he stood.

Five Hand Reel sing The Child on the Road

“Where do you fare and what is that you bear?”
Said the false knight to the child on the road.
“Nowhere do I fare and nothing do I bear.”
Said the little child only seven years old.

“What is that upon your back in your brown and heavy sack?”
Said the false knight to the child on the road.
“I have boots upon my back in my brown and heavy sack.”
Said the little child only seven years old.

“Tell me what is on your arm lest you want to come to harm.”
Said the false knight to the child on the road.
“I have beets upon my arm that I gathered at the farm.”
Said the little child only seven years old.

“What is higher than the tree, what is deeper than the sea?”
Said the false knight to the child on the road.
“Heaven’s higher than the tree, Hell is deeper than the sea.”
Said the little child only seven years old.

“Now I have a gallows high and a rope to swing you by.”
Said the false knight to the child on the road.
“If you want to swing me high from your gallows you must fly.”
Said the little child only seven years old.

“I’ve a bird without a wing and a song that doesn’t sing”
Said the false knight to the child on the road.
“Like the bird I’ll take the wing leaving you the song to sing.”
Said the little child only seven years old.

“A curse upon your father and a curse upon your mother.”
Said the false knight to the child on the road.
“No, it’s God bless me father and God bless me mother.”
Said the little child only seven years old.

Peggy Seeger sings The False Knight on the Road

“Where are you going?”
Cried the False, fie the False Fidee;
“I’m going to the school,”
Cried the child, and there still she stood.

“Whose sheep are those?”
Cried the False, fie the False Fidee;
“They’re mine and my mother’s,”
Cried the child, and there still she stood.

“Which one is mine?”
Cried the False, fie the False Fidee;
“The one with the blue tail,”
Cried the child, and there still she stood.

“There’s nary a one with a blue tail,”
Cried the False, fie the False Fidee;
“And nary a one will you have,”
Cried the child, and there still she stood.

“I wish I had you up a tree,”
Cried the False, fie the False Fidee;
“And a ladder under me,”
Cried the child, and there still she stood.

“I wish I had you on the sea,”
Cried the False, fie the False Fidee;
“And a good ship under me,”
Cried the child, and there still she stood.

“I wish 1 had you at the well,”
Cried the False, fie the False Fidee;
“And you in the deepest pits of hell,”
Cried the child, and there still she stood.

Jock Tamson’s Bairns sing Fause Knicht on the Road

“O whaur are ye gaun?” said the fause knicht upon the road.
“I’m gangin’ tae the schule,” said the wee boy, and still he stood.

“What’s that upon your back?” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“Ma bannocks an’ ma books,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“O can ye gie me share?” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“Na I canna gie ye share,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“What’s that upon yer arm?” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“A weel it is ma peats,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“Wha’s a’ yon sheep an’ cattle?” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“They’re ma faither’s an’ masel’s,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“Now what o’ them are mine?” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“A they that hae blue tails,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“I wis’ ye were in yon tree,” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“Wi’ a ladder unner me,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“If the ladder was tae break,” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“And ye for tae fa’ doon,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“If I had ye at the sea,” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“And a guid ship unner me,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

“If I had ye at the well,” cried the fause knicht upon the road.
“And ye intae Hell,” cried the wee boy, and still he stood.

Gilmore & Roberts sing False Knight

“Where are you going?” said the false knight
To the child on the road.
“I’m going to my school,”
Said the bonny little girl of seven years.

“And why do you go there?” said the false knight
To the child on the road.
“To learn the word of God,”
Said the bonny little girl of seven year.

“I wish you on the land,” said the false knight
To the child on the road.
“With a good staff in my hand,”
Said the bonny little girl of seven years old.

“I wish you on the sea,” said the false knight
To the child on the road.
“With a good boat under me,”
Said the bonny litde girl of seven years.

“I wish you in that tree,” said the false knight
To the child on the road.
“With a ladder under me,”
Said the bonny little girl of seven years old.

“I think I hear the bell,” said the false knight
To the child on the road.
“It’s ringing you to hell,”
Said the bonny little girl of seven years old.

The Outside Track sing False Knight on the Road

“What brings you here so late?” said the knight on the road.
“I’m going on my way”, said the child as he stood.
And he stood oh he stood
And was well that he stood.
“I’m going on my way”, said the child as he stood.

“How will you go by sea?” said the knight on the road.
“With a good staff in my hand”, said the child as he stood.
And he stood oh he stood
And was well that he stood.
“With a good staff in my hand”, said the child as he stood.

“How will you go by land?” said the knight on the road.
“With a good boat under me”, said the child as he stood.
And he stood oh he stood
And was well that he stood.
“With a good boat under me”, said the child as he stood.

“I think I hear a bell”, said the knight on the road.
“It’s ringing you to hell”, said the child as he stood.
And he stood oh he stood
And was well that he stood.
“It’s ringing you to hell”, said the child as he stood.

“What have you on your back?” said the knight on the road.
“I’ve got my good book in my pack.” said the child as he stood.
And he stood oh he stood
And was well that he stood.
“I’ve got my good book in my pack.” said the child as he stood.