The Jolly Beggar The Jolly Beggar The Jolly Beggar also known as The Gaberlunzieman is Child ballad 279. The song's chorus inspired lines in Lord Byron's poem "So, we'll go no more a roving." A beggar comes over the hills one day, and knocks on the door of a local farmer and asks for a roof for the night. Curiously, he will not accept a bed in the barn, but wishes only to sleep by the kitchen fire. Late at night, the farmer's daughter comes down to lock the kitchen door. The beggar and daughter exchange words, and fall in love. They sleep
William Knox (Scottish poet) William Knox (Scottish poet) William Knox (17 August 1789–12 November 1825) was a Scottish poet. He is known for writing Abraham Lincoln's favourite poem, "Mortality", which Lincoln often recited by memory. The eldest son of a Thomas Knox, a farmer, and Barbara Turnbull in Lilliesleaf, Roxburghshire, he was educated first in Lilliesleaf then in Musselburgh Grammar School. They lived in a farm (Todrig) which his mother had inherited when her first husband, also a farmer, died. He farmed unsuccessfully from 1812-1817 then turned to writing, supported by both Christopher North and Sir Walter Scott. He wrote several books of poetry,