Rhymes of Northern Bards / Being a Curious Collection of Old and New Songs and Poems, Peculiar to the Counties of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, and Durham

THE FLOWER OF ROTHBURY FOREST.

Sweet thro’ the forest, Coquet flows,

And sweet the flowers its banks adorn;

But sweetest far appears my Rose,

She’s sure the rose without a thorn.

Heard you the lilting,

At our kye milking,

Heard you the lilting yesterday;

Heard you the lilting,

At our kye milking;

The flower of the forest is stolen away.

Tho’ Meadowfield[62] may boast its sweets,

And meadow sweets its fields adorn;

United, all its scents me greets,

Present my Rose without a thorn.

Heard you the lilting, &c.

Tho’ Flotterton[63] may boast its maids,

And on Twelfth Eve all others scorn:

I envy not their lusty blades,

Present my Rose without a thorn.

Heard you the lilting, &c.

Tho’ at kye milking, maidens sing,

The forest’s flower is awa’;

I dinna heed, gae tak’ their fling,

For troth she’s stown awa’ wi’ me.

Heard you the lilting, &c.

[62] Meadowfield, name of a place.

[63] Maids’ Feast of Flotterton is on Twelfth Even.

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