Devol’s Last Farewel (Containing an Account of Many Frolicksom Intriegues and Notorious Robberies Which He Committed: Concluding With His Mournful Lamentation, on the Day of His Death.)
anonimo
Lingua: Inglese
You bold undaunted Souls attend
To me, who did the Laws offend;
For now I come to let you know
What prov’d my fatal overthrow,
And brought my Glory to decay;
it was my Gang, for whom I hang,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
Unto a Duke I was a Page,
And succour’d in my tender Age,
Until the Devil did me intice,
To leave of Vertue and follow Vice;
No sooner was I led astray,
but Wickedness did me possess,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
If I my Crimes to mind shou’d call,
And lay them down before you all,
They would amount to such a Sum,
That there is few in Christendom,
So many wanton Pranks did play;
but now too late, I mourn my fate,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
Upon the Road, I do declare,
I caus’d some Lords and Ladies fair,
To quit their Coach, and dance with us; (1)
This being done, the Case was thus,
They for their Musick needs must pay;
but now at last, those Ioaks are past,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
Another time, I and my Gang,
We fell upon a Noble-man;
In spite of all that he could do,
We took his Gold and Silver too,
And with the same we rid away;
but being took, for death I look,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
When I was mounted on my Steed,
I thought myself a Man indeed;
With Pistol cock’d and glittering Sword,
Stand and deliver, was the word,
Which makes me now lament and say,
pity the fall of great Devol,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
I did belong unto a Crew,
Of swaggering Blad[e]s as ever drew,
Stout Whitherington and Dowglas both,
We were all three engag’d by Oath, (2)
Upon the Road to take our way;
but now Devol, must pay for all,
Well-a-day, &c.
Because I was a Frenchman born,
Some Persons treated me with scorn,
But being of a daring Soul,
Although my Deeds was some thing foul,
My gaudy Plumes I did display,
but now my Pride, is laid aside,
Well-a-day, &c
I reigned with an undaunted mind
Some years, but now at last I find, (3)
The Pitcher that so often goes
Unto the Well, as Proverb shows,
Comes broken home at last we say;
for now I see my Destiny,
Well-a-day, &c.
Then being brought to Iustice-hall,
Try’d, and condemn’d before them all;
Where many noble Lords did come,
And Ladies for to hear my Doom,
Then Sentence pass’d, without delay,
The Halter first, and Tybourn last,
In one Day, in one Day. (4)
To me, who did the Laws offend;
For now I come to let you know
What prov’d my fatal overthrow,
And brought my Glory to decay;
it was my Gang, for whom I hang,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
Unto a Duke I was a Page,
And succour’d in my tender Age,
Until the Devil did me intice,
To leave of Vertue and follow Vice;
No sooner was I led astray,
but Wickedness did me possess,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
If I my Crimes to mind shou’d call,
And lay them down before you all,
They would amount to such a Sum,
That there is few in Christendom,
So many wanton Pranks did play;
but now too late, I mourn my fate,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
Upon the Road, I do declare,
I caus’d some Lords and Ladies fair,
To quit their Coach, and dance with us; (1)
This being done, the Case was thus,
They for their Musick needs must pay;
but now at last, those Ioaks are past,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
Another time, I and my Gang,
We fell upon a Noble-man;
In spite of all that he could do,
We took his Gold and Silver too,
And with the same we rid away;
but being took, for death I look,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
When I was mounted on my Steed,
I thought myself a Man indeed;
With Pistol cock’d and glittering Sword,
Stand and deliver, was the word,
Which makes me now lament and say,
pity the fall of great Devol,
Well-a-day, well-a-day.
I did belong unto a Crew,
Of swaggering Blad[e]s as ever drew,
Stout Whitherington and Dowglas both,
We were all three engag’d by Oath, (2)
Upon the Road to take our way;
but now Devol, must pay for all,
Well-a-day, &c.
Because I was a Frenchman born,
Some Persons treated me with scorn,
But being of a daring Soul,
Although my Deeds was some thing foul,
My gaudy Plumes I did display,
but now my Pride, is laid aside,
Well-a-day, &c
I reigned with an undaunted mind
Some years, but now at last I find, (3)
The Pitcher that so often goes
Unto the Well, as Proverb shows,
Comes broken home at last we say;
for now I see my Destiny,
Well-a-day, &c.
Then being brought to Iustice-hall,
Try’d, and condemn’d before them all;
Where many noble Lords did come,
And Ladies for to hear my Doom,
Then Sentence pass’d, without delay,
The Halter first, and Tybourn last,
In one Day, in one Day. (4)
inviata da Bernart - 5/9/2013 - 16:09
Note di Gillian Spraggs da Outlaws and Highwaymen, tradotte e (spero!) arricchite da Bernart.
1) To quit their Coach, and dance with us: con riferimento al racconto in base al quale DuVall, il rapinatore gentiluomo, in un’occasione preferì intrattenersi a danzare con una bella passeggera di una diligenza anziché razziarla. L’episodio è raccontato da William Pope, autore de “The Memoires of Monsieur Du Vall Containing the History of His Life and Death: Whereunto Are Annexed His Last Speech and Epitaph”, edito a Londra nel 1670.
2) engag’d by Oath: con riferimento al giuramento di fedeltà che praticavano i membri delle bande.
3) I reigned with an undaunted mind Some years: non furono poi molti gli anni di attività criminale di Claude DuVall. I primi riferimenti scritti della sua esistenza come highwayman datano solo 4 o 5 anni prima della sua esecuzione. In ogni caso la sopravvivenza degli esseri umani dediti a quel tipo di “commerci” non era mai considerevole.
4) In one Day: si tratta di una licenza poetica, come per dire che a fronte di 4 o 5 anni di scorrerie DuVall fu poi liquidato molto in fretta. In realtà non fu impiccato il giorno stesso della sentenza ma circa una settimana dopo.
1) To quit their Coach, and dance with us: con riferimento al racconto in base al quale DuVall, il rapinatore gentiluomo, in un’occasione preferì intrattenersi a danzare con una bella passeggera di una diligenza anziché razziarla. L’episodio è raccontato da William Pope, autore de “The Memoires of Monsieur Du Vall Containing the History of His Life and Death: Whereunto Are Annexed His Last Speech and Epitaph”, edito a Londra nel 1670.
2) engag’d by Oath: con riferimento al giuramento di fedeltà che praticavano i membri delle bande.
3) I reigned with an undaunted mind Some years: non furono poi molti gli anni di attività criminale di Claude DuVall. I primi riferimenti scritti della sua esistenza come highwayman datano solo 4 o 5 anni prima della sua esecuzione. In ogni caso la sopravvivenza degli esseri umani dediti a quel tipo di “commerci” non era mai considerevole.
4) In one Day: si tratta di una licenza poetica, come per dire che a fronte di 4 o 5 anni di scorrerie DuVall fu poi liquidato molto in fretta. In realtà non fu impiccato il giorno stesso della sentenza ma circa una settimana dopo.
Bernart - 6/9/2013 - 08:22
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Una “sheet ballad”, distribuita su fogli volanti, composta da mano anonima sulla melodia dell’erotica “Cloris, since thou art gone astray” (1656), allora molto popolare.
Testo trovato sul bel sito Outlaws and Highwaymen curato da Gillian Spraggs, autore di un volume dallo stesso titolo pubblicato a Londra nel 2001.
La fonte originaria è il primo dei due volumi di “The Bagford Ballads”, a cura di J. W. Ebsworth, pubblicati nel 1878.
60 anni prima di Dick Turpin a salire sul patibolo a Tyburn (oggi Marble Arch, Londra) toccò al “gallant highwayman” Claude DuVall (o Duval).
Nato in Normandia nel 1643 da una famiglia nobile ma caduta in disgrazia, il povero Claude si ritrovò a fare il servo prima a Parigi e poi in Inghilterra, presso il duca di Richmond, e si stabilì in una modesta casa in affitto a Wokingham.
Dovrà aver pensato: “Cazzo, non fosse stato per quei cretini dei miei genitori, a quest’ora anch’io potevo spacchiarmela bene, invece di fare lo schiavo di questi riccastri! Meglio allora derubarli che servirli!”.
E così divenne un highwayman, un rapinatore di diligenze dirette a Londra. Ma – saranno stati i natali francesi, oppure il fatto che la nobiltà non fosse solo di lignaggio ma anche d’animo - a differenza di molti altri del suo mestiere, Claude Duval aveva bei modi, sfoggiava bei vestiti, era sempre ben curato e in tutta la sua carriera non torse mai un capello a nessuna delle sue vittime, anzi…. Il capo dei cacciatori del Re, tal Squire Roper, fu alleggerito di una cinquantina di ghinee e, con tante scuse, lasciato legato ad un albero… E si racconta che quando una bella dama, passeggera di una carrozza intercettata, accettò di ballare con lui una “courante”, Duval rinunciò poi alla rapina e lasciò andare la diligenza.
Ma della sua galanteria poco importava alle autorità che posero sulla sua testa una forte taglia, sicchè alla fine del 1669 una soffiata favorì il suo arresto in una taverna di Covent Garden.
Riconosciuto colpevole di 6 assalti armati, fu impiccato il 21 gennaio 1670.
Il suo epitaffio recita:
Look to thy purse; if female, to thy heart.
Much havoc has he made of both; for all
Men he made to stand, and women he made to fall
The second Conqueror of the Norman race,
Knights to his arm did yield, and ladies to his face.
Old Tyburn’s glory; England’s illustrious Thief,
Du Vall, the ladies’ joy; Du Vall, the ladies’ grief.”
e provo a tradurlo così:
Occhio alla borsa; se sei femmina, al cuore.
Che molto scompiglio ha causato a tutti:
Gli uomini li ha fatti restare in piedi (con le mani alzate)
E le donne le ha fatte svenire (d’amore)
Secondo conquistatore della razza normanna
Valorosi cavalieri cedettero sotto il suo braccio
E belle donne cedettero al suo bel viso.
Gloria del vecchio patibolo, illustre ladro d’Inghilterra,
DuVall, gioia e pena delle donne.”