Original

O have ye na heard o' the fause Sakelde?

O have ye na heard of the keen Lord Scroope?

How they hae taen bould Kinmont Willy,

On Haribee to hang him up?

Had Willy had but twenty men,

But twenty men as stout as he,

Fause Sakelde had never the Kinmont ta'en,

Wi' eight score in his company.

They band his legs beneath the steed,

They tied his hands behind his' back;

They guarded him, five some on each side,

And they brought him ower the Liddel-rack.

They led him thro' the Liddel-rack,

And also thro' the Carlisle sands;

They brought him to Carlisle castle,

To be at my Lord Scroope's commands.

(band, bound.)

"My hands are tied, but my tongue is free,

And wha will dare this deed avow?

Or answer by the Border law?

Or answer to the bauld Buccleuch?"

"Now haud thy tongue, thou rank reiver!

There's never a Scot shall set thee free:

Before ye cross my castle yate,

I trow ye shall take farewell o' me."

"Fear na ye that, my lord," quo' Willy:

"By the faith o' my body, Lord Scroope," he said,

"I never yet lodged in a hostelry,

But I paid my lawing before I gaed."

Now word is gane to the bauld Keeper,

In Branksome Ha' where that he lay,

That Lord Scroope has ta'en the Kinmont Willy,

Between the hours of night and day.

He has ta'en the table wi' his hand,

He gar'd the red wine spring on high—

"Now Christ's curse on my head," he said,

"But avenged of Lord Scroope I'll be!

"O is my basnet a widow's curch?

Or my lance a wand of the willow-tree?

Or my arm a lady's lily hand,

That an English lord should lightly me!

(reiver, robber. yate, gate. lawing, reckoning. basnet, helmet. curch, kerchief.)

"And have they ta en him, Kinmont Willy,

Against the truce of Border tide,

And forgotten that the bauld Buccleuch

Is keeper there on the Scottish side?

"And have they e en ta en him, Kinmont Willy,

Withouten either dread or fear,

And forgotten that the bauld Buccleuch

Can back a steed, or shake a spear?

"O were there war between the lands,

As well I wot that there is none,

I would slight Carlisle castle high,

Though it were builded of marble stone.

"I would set that castle in a low,

And sloken it with English blood!

There's never a man in Cumberland,

Should ken where Carlisle castle stood.

"But since nae war's between the lands,

And there is peace, and peace should be;

I'll neither harm English lad or lass,

And yet the Kinmont freed shall be!"

He has call'd him forty Marchmen bauld,

I trow they were of his ain name,

Except Sir Gilbert Elliot, call'd

The Laird of Stobs, I mean the same.

(slight, i.e., make little of. sloken, slake.)

He has call'd him forty Marchmen bauld,

Were kinsmen to the bauld Buccleuch;

With spur on heel, and splent on spauld,

And gloves of green, and feathers blue.

There were five and five before them a',

Wi' hunting-horns and bugles bright:

And five and five came wi' Buccleuch,

Like warden's men, array'd for fight.

And five and five, like a mason-gang,

That carried the ladders lang and high;

And five and five, like broken men;

And so they reach'd the Woodhouselee.

And as we cross'd the Bateable Land,

When to the English side we held,

The first o' men that we met wi',

Wha should it be but fause Sakelde?

"Where be ye gaun, ye hunters keen?"

Quo' fause Sakelde; "come tell to me!"

"We go to hunt an English stag,

Has trespass'd on the Scots country."

"Where be ye gaun, ye marshal-men?"

Quo' fause Sakelde; "come tell me true!

"We go to catch a rank reiver,

Has broken faith wi' the bauld Buccleuch.'

(splent, armour. spauld, shoulder.)

"Where are ye gaun, ye mason lads,

Wi' a' your ladders lang and high?"

"We gang to herry a corbie's nest,

That wons not far frae Woodhouselee."

"Where be ye gaun, ye broken men?"

Quo' fause Sakelde; "Come tell to me!"

Now Dicky of Dry hope led that band,

And the never a word of lear had he.

"Why trespass ye on the English side?

Row-footed outlaws, stand!" quo' he;

Then never a word had Dicky to say,

Sae he thrust the lance through his fause body.

Then on we held for Carlisle toun,

And at Staneshaw-bank the Eden we cross'd;

The water was great and mickle of spate,

But the never a horse nor man we lost.

And when we reach'd the Staneshaw-bank,

The wind was rising loud and high;

And there the Laird gar'd leave our steeds,

For fear that they should stamp and neigh.

And when we left the Staneshaw-bank,

The wind began full loud to blaw;

But 'twas wind and weet, and fire and sleet,

When we came beneath the castle wa'.

(herry, harry. wons, dwells. lear, lying. row-footed, rough-footed.)

We crept on knees, and held our breath,

Till we placed the ladders against the wa';

And sae ready was Buccleuch himsel'

To mount the first before us a'.

He has taen the watchman by the throat,

He flung him down upon the lead—

"Had there not been peace between our lands,

Upon the other side thou hadst gaed!

"Now sound out, trumpets!" quo' Buccleuch;

"Let's waken Lord Scroope right merrily!"

Then loud the wardens trumpet blew—

O wha dare meddle wi' me?

Then speedily to wark we gaed,

And raised the slogan ane and a',

And cut a hole through a sheet of lead,

And so we wan to the castle ha'.

They thought King James and a' his men

Had won the house wi' bow and spear;

It was but twenty Scots and ten,

That put a thousand in sic a stear!

Wi' coulters, and wi' forehammers,

We gar'd the bars bang merrily,

Until we came to the inner prison,

Where Willy o' Kinmont he did lie.

(forehammers, sledge-hammers. stear, stir. slogan, war-cry.)

And when we came to the lower prison,

Where Willy o' Kinmont he did lie—

"O sleep ye, wake ye, Kinmont Willy,

Upon the morn that thou's to die?"

"O I sleep saft, and I wake aft,

It's lang since sleeping was fley'd frae me;

Gie my service back to my wife and bairns,

And a' gude fellows that speer for me."

Then Red Rowan has hente him up,

The starkest man in Teviotdale—

"Abide, abide now, Red Rowan,

Till of my Lord Scroope I take farewell.

"Farewell, farewell, my gude Lord Scroope!

My gude Lord Scroope, farewell!" he cried—

"I'll pay you for my lodging mail,

When first we meet on the Border side."

Then shoulder high, with shout and cry,

We bore him down the ladder lang:

At every stride Red Rowan made,

I wot the Kinmont's airns play'd clang.

"O mony a time," quo' Kinmont Willy,

"I have ridden horse baith wild and wood;

But a rougher beast than Red Rowan

I ween my legs have ne'er bestrode.

(hente, caught. fley'd, frightened. starkest, strongest. airns, irons.)

"And mony a time," quo' Kinmont Willy,

"I've prick'd a horse out ower the furs;

But since the day I back'd a steed,

I never wore sic cumbrous spurs."

We scarce had won the Staneshaw-bank,

When a' the Carlisle bells were rung,

And a thousand men on horse and foot

Came wi' the keen Lord Scroope along.

Buccleuch has turn'd to Eden Water,

Even where it flow'd frae bank to brim,

And he has plunged in wi' a' his band,

And safely swam them through the stream.

He turn'd him on the other side,

And at Lord Scroope his glove flung he—

"If ye like na my visit in merry England,

In fair Scotland come visit me!"

All sore astonish'd stood Lord Scroope,

He stood as still as rock of stane;

He scarcely dared to trew his eyes,

When through the water they had gane.

He is either himsel' a devil frae hell,

Or else his mother a witch maun be;

"I wadna hae ridden that wan water

For a' the gowd in Christianty."

(furs, furrows. trew, trust.)