The Ghaist's Warning

The Ghaist's Warning is a Scottish ballad based on Robert Jamieson's translation of the Danish ballad Svend Dyring (DgF 89; TSB A 68). It was published by Sir Walter Scott in the notes to The Lady of the Lake in 1810.[1] Scott describes the ballad as being written not in the common language of the time, but in the "old Scottish idiom" such as to produce a more literal translation.[2]

The ballad describes a group of children who are abused by their evil stepmother after the death of their biological mother; the dead mother then rises from the grave to warn against their mistreatment.[1]

The Saturday Review praised Svend Dyring, arguing that the ballad, "with its combination of intense pathos and high imaginative power, stands alone, we are inclined to think, in the ballad-literature of Europe."[3]

  1. ^ a b Brontë, Emily (14 December 2001). "Appendix B". In Heywood, Christopher (ed.). Wuthering Heights. Signet Classic. p. 450. ISBN 9781551112473. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  2. ^ Scott, Walter (1849). The Lady of the Lake. Francis. p. 276. Retrieved 21 November 2018. the ghaist's warning.
  3. ^ "Danish Ballads". Reviews. The Saturday Review of politics, literature, science, and art. Vol. 6, no. 148. 28 August 1858. p. 215. Retrieved 21 November 2018.