View source for The Heir of Linne

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{short description|Traditional song}}
[[File:The book of British ballads (1842) (14779596871).jpg|thumb|''The Heire of Linne'' in ''The Book of British Ballads'' (1842)]]
'''The Heir of Linne''' ([[Child ballad]] #267; [[Roud Folk Song Index|Roud]] #111) is a traditional folk song existing in several variants.<ref>[[Francis James Child]], ''English and Scottish Popular Ballads'', [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch267.htm "The Heir of Linne"]</ref>

==Synopsis==
The lord of Linne wastes all his money, and sells his land to his steward to get more, and wastes that money as well.  No one will lend him money, and he realizes his folly:  he could have lived comfortably on his lands.

He remembers a letter that his father left him, or a key that his mother gave him, or tries to hang himself and splits the roof.  This leads to his finding chests of gold.  He goes back to his old hall, and tries to borrow money from the new owner, who jeers at him, and mockingly offers to sell back the lands for less than the purchase price.  The lord agrees and pays, and so gets back his lands.

==Commentary==
This appears to be written by [[Thomas Percy (bishop of Dromore)|Thomas Percy]] in his ''[[Reliques of Ancient English Poetry]]'', rewriting an older ballad with some ideas taken from a second ballad.<ref>Helen Child Sargent, [[George Lyman Kittredge]], eds. ''English and Scottish Popular Ballads: Cambridge Edition'' p. 576 Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1904</ref>

Two versions are printed in John S. Roberts's ''The Legendary Ballads of England and Scotland'' (1887); one is Percy's version and the other a Scottish version which he describes as "stiff and awkward"; it had been printed in ''Scottish Traditional Versions of Ancient Ballads'' by the [[Percy Society]] (1846).<ref>Roberts, John S., ed. (1887) ''The Legendary Ballads of England and Scotland''. London: Frederick Warne; pp. 9–19</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{NIE poster|year=1905|Heir of Linne}}
*[http://www.bartleby.com/243/80.html ''The Heir of Linne'']
*[http://www.bartleby.com/81/10329.html ''Brewer's Dictionary'']
*{{ws|“[[s:Child's Ballads/267|The Heir of Linne]],” No. 267 in [[s:Child's Ballads|''Child's Collected Ballads'']] by [[Francis James Child]], 10 vols., 1882–1898}} This source gives two versions, labeled “A” and “B”.
{{Francis James Child}}

[[Category:Child Ballads|Heir of Linne]]