1.

1.⁴ ‘lair,’ lesson. Cp. 16.¹.

O I will sing to you a sang,

But oh my heart is sair!

The clerk’s twa sons in Owsenford

Has to learn some unco lair.

2.

They hadna been in fair Parish

A twelvemonth an’ a day,

Till the clerk’s twa sons o’ Owsenford

Wi’ the mayor’s twa daughters lay.

3.

O word’s gaen to the mighty mayor,

As he sail’d on the sea,

That the clerk’s twa sons o’ Owsenford

Wi’ his twa daughters lay.

4.

‘If they hae lain wi’ my twa daughters,

Meg and Marjorie,

The morn, or I taste meat or drink,

They shall be hangit hie.’

5.

O word’s gaen to the clerk himself,

As he sat drinkin’ wine,

That his twa sons in fair Parish

Were bound in prison strong.

6.

Then up and spak the clerk’s ladye,

And she spak pow’rfully:

‘O tak with ye a purse of gold,

Or take with ye three,

And if ye canna get William,

Bring Andrew hame to me.’

7.

7.¹ etc. ‘owsen,’ oxen.

‘O lye ye here for owsen, dear sons,

Or lie ye here for kye?

Or what is it that ye lie for,

Sae sair bound as ye lie?’

8.

‘We lie not here for owsen, dear father,

Nor yet lie here for kye;

But it’s for a little o’ dear-bought love

Sae sair bound as we lye.’

9.

O he’s gane to the mighty mayor

And he spake powerfully:

‘Will ye grant me my twa sons’ lives,

Either for gold or fee?

Or will ye be sae gude a man

As grant them baith to me?’

10.

‘I’ll no’ grant ye yere twa sons’ lives,

Neither for gold or fee,

Nor will I be sae gude a man

As gie them back to thee;

Before the morn at twelve o’clock

Ye’ll see them hangit hie.’

11.

Up and spak his twa daughters,

And they spak pow’rfully:

‘Will ye grant us our twa loves’ lives,

Either for gold or fee?

Or will ye be sae gude a man

As grant them baith to me?’

12.

‘I ‘ll no’ grant ye yere twa loves’ lives,

Neither for gold or fee,

Nor will I be sae gude a man

As grant their lives to thee;

Before the morn at twelve o’clock

Ye’ll see them hangit hie.’

13.

O he’s ta’en out these proper youths,

And hang’d them on a tree,

And he’s bidden the clerk o’ Owsenford

Gang hame to his ladie.

14.

His lady sits on yon castle-wa’,

Beholding dale and doun,

An’ there she saw her ain gude lord

Come walkin’ to the toun.

15.

‘Ye’re welcome, welcome, my ain gude lord,

Ye’re welcome hame to me;

But where away are my twa sons?

Ye should hae brought them wi’ ye.’

16.

‘It’s I’ve putten them to a deeper lair,

An’ to a higher schule;

Yere ain twa sons ’ill no’ be here

Till the hallow days o’ Yule.’

17.

17.² ‘dool,’ grief.

‘O sorrow, sorrow, come mak’ my bed,

An’ dool come lay me doon!

For I’ll neither eat nor drink,

Nor set a fit on ground.’

18.

18 Here begins The Wife of Usher’s Well in a variant.

The hallow days of Yule are come,

The nights are lang and dark;

An’ in an’ cam’ her ain twa sons,

Wi’ their hats made o’ the bark.

19.

‘O eat an’ drink, my merry men a’,

The better shall ye fare,

For my twa sons the[y] are come hame

To me for evermair.’

20.

20.³ ‘happit,’ wrapped.

She has gaen an’ made their bed,

An’ she’s made it saft an’ fine,

An’ she’s happit them wi’ her gay mantel,

Because they were her ain.

21.

21.¹ ‘Linkem,’ perhaps a stock ballad-locality, like ‘Lin,’ etc. See First Series, Introduction, p. 1.

O the young cock crew i’ the merry Linkem,

An’ the wild fowl chirp’d for day;

The aulder to the younger did say,

‘Dear brother, we maun away.’

22.

‘Lie still, lie still, a little wee while,

Lie still but if we may;

For gin my mother miss us away,

She’ll gae mad or it be day.’

23.

O it’s they’ve ta’en up their mother’s mantel,

And they’ve hang’d it on the pin:

‘O lang may ye hing, my mother’s mantel,

Or ye hap us again!’

1.

There lived a wife at Usher’s Well,

And a wealthy wife was she;

She had three stout and stalwart sons,

And sent them o’er the sea.

2.

2.³ ‘carline,’ old woman.

They hadna been a week from her,

A week but barely ane,

When word came to the carline wife

That her three sons were gane.

3.

They hadna been a week from her,

A week but barely three,

When word came to the carlin wife,

That her sons she’d never see.

4.

‘I wish the wind may never cease,

Nor fishes in the flood,

Till my three sons come hame to me,

In earthly flesh and blood.’

5.

5.⁴ ‘birk,’ birch.

It fell about the Martinmass,

When nights are lang and mirk,

The carlin wife’s three sons came hame,

And their hats were o’ the birk.

6.

6.¹ ‘syke,’ marsh.

6.² ‘sheugh,’ ditch.

It neither grew in syke nor ditch,

Nor yet in ony sheugh;

But at the gates o’ Paradise

That birk grew fair eneugh.

.....

7.

‘Blow up the fire, my maidens,

Bring water from the well;

For a’ my house shall feast this night,

Since my three sons are well.’

8.

And she has made to them a bed,

She’s made it large and wide,

And she’s ta’en her mantle her about,

Sat down at the bedside.

.....

9.

Up then crew the red, red cock,

And up and crew the gray;

The eldest to the youngest said,

‘’Tis time we were away.’

10.

The cock he hadna craw’d but once,

And clapp’d his wings at a’,

Whan the youngest to the eldest said,

‘Brother, we must awa’.

11.

11.² ‘channerin’,’ fretting.

‘The cock doth craw, the day doth daw,

The channerin’ worm doth chide;

Gin we be mist out o’ our place,

A sair pain we maun bide.

12.

‘Fare-ye-weel, my mother dear!

Fareweel to barn and byre!

And fare-ye-weel, the bonny lass

That kindles my mother’s fire!’

.....

1.

1.² ‘gravel’d green’; probably corrupt: perhaps a green with gravelled walks.

1.⁴ ‘I wat’; cp. 11.², 13.², 15.⁴, etc.

Clark Sanders and May Margret

Walkt ower yon gravel’d green;

And sad and heavy was the love,

I wat, it fell this twa between.

2.

‘A bed, a bed,’ Clark Sanders said,

‘A bed, a bed, for you and I:’

‘Fye no, fye no,’ the lady said,

‘Until the day we married be.

3.

‘For in it will come my seven brothers,

And a’ their torches burning bright;

They’ll say, We hae but ae sister,

And here her lying wi’ a knight.’

4.

4.² ‘gin,’ altered in the MS. to ‘pin.’ In either case, it     part of the door-latch.

‘Ye’l take the sourde fray my scabbord,

And lowly, lowly lift the gin,

And you may say, your oth to save,

You never let Clerk Sanders in.

5.

‘Yele take a napken in your hand,

And ye’l ty up baith your een,

An’ ye may say, your oth to save,

That ye saw na Sandy sen late yestreen.

6.

6.² ‘ben,’ within.

‘Yele take me in your armes twa,

Yele carrey me ben into your bed,

And ye may say, your oth to save,

In your bower-floor I never tread.’

7.

She has ta’en the sourde fray his scabbord.

And lowly, lowly lifted the gin;

She was to swear, her oth to save,

She never let Clerk Sanders in.

8.

She has tain a napkin in her hand,

And she ty’d up baith her een;

She was to swear, her oth to save,

She saw na him sene late yestreen.

9.

She has ta’en him in her armes twa,

And carried him ben into her bed;

She was to swear, her oth to save,

He never in her bower-floor tread.

10.

In and came her seven brothers,

And all their torches burning bright;

Says thay, We hae but ae sister,

And see there her lying wi’ a knight.

11.

Out and speaks the first of them,

‘A wat they hay been lovers dear;’

Out and speaks the next of them,

‘They hay been in love this many a year.’

12.

12.² ‘twain,’ separate.

Out an’ speaks the third of them,

‘It wear great sin this twa to twain;’

Out an’ speaks the fourth of them,

‘It wear a sin to kill a sleeping man.’

13.

Out an’ speaks the fifth of them,

‘A wat they’ll near be twain’d by me;’

Out an’ speaks the sixt of them,

‘We’l tak our leave an’ gae our way.’

14.

Out an’ speaks the seventh of them,

‘Altho’ there wear no a man but me,

I’se bear the brand into my hand

Shall quickly gar Clark Sanders die.’

15.

15 Cp. The Bonny Birdy, 15.^1-4 (First Series, p. 28).

15.² ‘striped,’ whetted. See First Series, Introduction, pp. xlix-l.

Out he has ta’en a bright long brand,

And he has striped it throw the straw,

And throw and throw Clarke Sanders’ body

A wat he has gard cold iron gae.

16.

16.³ ‘well and wellsom,’ probably a corruption of ‘wae and waesome,’ sad and woful.

Sanders he started, an’ Margret she lapt

Intill his arms where she lay;

And well and wellsom was the night,

A wat it was between these twa.

17.

And they lay still, and sleeped sound,

Untill the day began to daw;

And kindly till him she did say,

‘It is time, trew-love, ye wear awa’.’

18.

They lay still, and sleeped sound,

Untill the sun began to shine;

She lookt between her and the wa’,

And dull and heavy was his een.

19.

She thought it had been a loathsome sweat,

A wat it had fallen this twa between;

But it was the blood of his fair body,

A wat his life days wair na lang.

20.

20.² ‘thoule,’ endure.

‘O Sanders, I’le do for your sake

What other ladys would na thoule;

When seven years is come and gone,

There’s near a shoe go on my sole.

21.

‘O Sanders, I’le do for your sake

What other ladies would think mare;

When seven years is come and gone,

There’s nere a comb go in my hair.

22.

22.² ‘lack,’ discredit.

22.⁴ ‘dowy,’ mournful.

‘O Sanders, I’le do for your sake,

What other ladies would think lack;

When seven years is come and gone,

I’le wear nought but dowy black.’

23.

The bells gaed clinking throw the towne,

To carry the dead corps to the clay;

An’ sighing says her May Margret,

‘A wat I bide a doulfou’ day.’

24.

In an’ come her father dear,

Stout steping on the floor;

.....

.....

25.

‘Hold your toung, my doughter dear,

Let a’ your mourning a-bee;

I’le carry the dead corps to the clay,

An’ I’le come back an’ comfort thee.’

26.

‘Comfort well your seven sons;

For comforted will I never bee;

For it was neither lord nor loune

That was in bower last night wi’ mee.’

27.

Whan bells war rung, an’ mass was sung,

A wat a’ man to bed were gone,

Clark Sanders came to Margret’s window,

With mony a sad sigh and groan.

28.

‘Are ye sleeping, Margret?’ he says,

‘Or are ye waking presentlie?

Give me my faith and trouthe again,

A wat, trew-love, I gied to thee.’

29.

‘Your faith and trouth ye’s never get,

Nor our trew love shall never twain,

Till ye come with me in my bower,

And kiss me both cheek and chin.’

30.

30.^3,4 Cp. The Unquiet Grave, 5.^3,4.

‘My mouth it is full cold, Margret,

It has the smell now of the ground;

And if I kiss thy comely mouth,

Thy life days will not be long.

31.

31.¹ ‘mid-larf,’ probably corrupt: changed by Scott to ‘midnight.’ The meaning is unknown.

‘Cocks are crowing a merry mid-larf,

I wat the wild fule boded day;

Gie me my faith and trouthe again.

And let me fare me on my way.’

32.

‘Thy faith and trouth thou shall na get,

And our trew love shall never twin,

Till ye tell me what comes of women

A wat that dy’s in strong traveling?’

33.

‘Their beds are made in the heavens high,

Down at the foot of our good Lord’s knee,

Well set about wi’ gillyflowers:

A wat sweet company for to see.

34.

‘O, cocks are crowing a merry mid-larf,

A wat the wilde foule boded day;

The salms of Heaven will be sung,

And ere now I’le be misst away.’

35.

35.³ ‘shot-window,’ a window which opens and shuts. See First Series, Introduction, p. 1.

Up she has tain a bright long wand,

And she has straked her trouth thereon;

She has given [it] him out at the shot-window,

Wi’ many a sad sigh and heavy groan.

36.

‘I thank you, Margret; I thank you, Margret,

And I thank you heartilie;

Gin ever the dead come for the quick,

Be sure, Margret, I’ll come again for thee.’

37.

It’s hose an’ shoon an’ gound alane,

She clame the wall and follow’d him,

Until she came to a green forest,

On this she lost the sight of him.

38.

‘Is there any room at your head, Sanders?

Is there any room at your feet?

Or any room at your twa sides,

Whare fain, fain woud I sleep?’

39.

‘Thair is na room at my head, Margret,

Thair is na room at my feet;

There is room at my twa sides,

For ladys for to sleep.

40.

40.¹ ‘meal,’ mould, earth.

‘Cold meal is my covering owre,

But an’ my winding sheet;

My bed it is full low, I say,

Down among the hongerey worms I sleep.

41.

‘Cold meal is my covering owre,

But an’ my winding sheet;

The dew it falls na sooner down

Then ay it is full weet.

42.

‘But plait a wand o’ bonny birk,

And lay it on my breast;

And shed a tear upon my grave,

And wish my saul gude rest.

43.

‘And fair Margret, and rare Margret,

And Margret o’ veritie,

Gin e’er ye love another man,

Ne’er love him as ye did me.’

44.

Then up and crew the milk-white cock,

And up and crew the grey;

The lover vanish’d in the air,

And she gaed weeping away.

1.

‘O Lady, rock never your young son young

One hour longer for me,

For I have a sweetheart in Garlick’s Wells

I love thrice better than thee.

2.

‘The very sols of my love’s feet

Is whiter then thy face:’

‘But nevertheless na, Young Hunting,

Ye’l stay wi’ me all night.’

3.

3.¹ ‘birl’d,’ poured; ‘him,’ i.e. for him.

She has birl’d in him Young Hunting

The good ale and the beer,

Till he was as fou drunken

As any wild-wood steer.

4.

4.⁴ See First Series, Brown Robin, 7.⁴; Fause Footrage, 16.⁴; and Introduction, p. li.

She has birl’d in him Young Hunting

The good ale and the wine,

Till he was as fou drunken

As any wild-wood swine.

5.

Up she has tain him Young Hunting,

And she has had him to her bed,

.....

.....

6.

6.² ‘gare,’ part of the dress. See First Series, Introduction, p. 1.

And she has minded her on a little penknife,

That hangs low down by her gare,

And she has gin him Young Hunting

A deep wound and a sare.

7.

Out an’ spake the bonny bird,

That flew abon her head:

‘Lady, keep well thy green clothing

Fra that good lord’s blood.’

8.

8.³ ‘flattering,’ wagging.

‘O better I’ll keep my green clothing

Fra that good lord’s blood,

Nor thou can keep thy flattering toung,

That flatters in thy head.

9.

9.⁴ ‘wand,’ wood, wicker.

‘Light down, light down, my bonny bird,

Light down upon my hand,

And ye sail hae a cage o’ the gowd

Where ye hae but the wand.

10.

‘O siller, O siller shall be thy hire,

An’ goud shall be thy fee,

An’ every month into the year

Thy cage shall changed be.’

11.

‘I winna light down, I shanna light down,

I winna light on thy hand;

For soon, soon wad ye do to me

As ye done to Young Hunting.’

12.

She has booted and spir’d him Young Hunting

As he had been gan to ride,

A hunting-horn about his neck,

An’ the sharp sourd by his side;

And she has had him to yon wan water,

For a’ man calls it Clyde.

13.

13.¹ ‘pot,’ pot-hole: a hole scooped by the action of the stream in the rock-bed of a river.

13.³ ‘truff’ = turf.

The deepest pot intill it a’

She has puten Young Hunting in;

A green truff upon his breast,

To hold that good lord down.

14.

It fell once upon a day

The king was going to ride,

And he sent for him Young Hunting,

To ride on his right side.

15.

She has turn’d her right and round about,

She sware now by the corn:

‘I saw na thy son, Young Hunting,

Sen yesterday at morn.’

16.

She has turn’d her right and round about,

She sware now by the moon:

‘I saw na thy son, Young Hunting,

Sen yesterday at noon.

17.

17.³ ‘duckers,’ divers.

‘It fears me sair in Clyde Water

That he is drown’d therein:’

O they ha’ sent for the king’s duckers

To duck for Young Hunting.

18.

They ducked in at the tae water-bank,

They ducked out at the tither:

‘We’ll duck no more for Young Hunting

All tho’ he wear our brother.’

19.

Out an’ spake the bonny bird,

That flew abon their heads:

.....

.....

20.

‘O he’s na drown’d in Clyde Water,

He is slain and put therein;

The lady that lives in yon castil

Slew him and put him in.

21.

21.³ ‘sakeless,’ innocent.

‘Leave aff your ducking on the day,

And duck upon the night;

Whear ever that sakeless knight lys slain,

The candels will shine bright.’

22.

Thay left off their ducking o’ the day,

And ducked upon the night,

And where that sakeless knight lay slain,

The candles shone full bright.

23.

The deepest pot intill it a’

Thay got Young Hunting in;

A green turff upon his brest,

To hold that good lord down.

24.

24.⁵ ‘wyte,’ blame.

24.⁶ ‘May,’ maid.

O thay hae sent aff men to the wood

To hew down baith thorn an’ fern,

That they might get a great bonefire

To burn that lady in.

‘Put na the wyte on me,’ she says,

‘It was her May Catheren.’

25.

Whan thay had tane her May Catheren,

In the bonefire set her in,

It wad na take upon her cheeks,

Nor take upon her chin,

Nor yet upon her yallow hair,

To healle the deadly sin.

26.

26.⁶ ‘hoky-gren’; ‘gren’ is a bough or twig; ‘hoakie,’ according to Jamieson, is a fire that has been covered up with cinders. ‘Hoky-gren,’ therefore, is perhaps a kind of charcoal. Scott substitutes ‘hollin green,’ green holly.

Out they hae tain her May Catheren

And they hay put that lady in;

O it took upon her cheek, her cheek,

An’ it took upon her chin,

An’ it took on her fair body,

She burnt like hoky-gren.

1.

As I was walking all alane,

I heard twa corbies making a mane,

The tane unto the t’other say,

‘Where sall we gang and dine to-day?’

2.

2.¹ ‘fail dyke,’ turf wall.

‘In behint yon auld fail dyke,

I wot there lies a new slain knight;

And nae body kens that he lies there,

But his hawk, his hound, and lady fair.

3.

‘His hound is to the hunting gane,

His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl hame,

His lady’s ta’en another mate,

So we may mak’ our dinner sweet.

1.

Of a’ the maids o’ fair Scotland,

The fairest was Marjorie;

And young Benjie was her ae true love,

And a dear true-love was he.

2.

2.⁴ ‘plea,’ quarrel.

And wow! but they were lovers dear,

And loved fu’ constantlie;

But ay the mair when they fell out,

The sairer was their plea.

3.

And they hae quarrelled on a day,

Till Marjorie’s heart grew wae,

And she said she’d chuse another luve.

And let young Benjie gae.

4.

And he was stout, and proud hearted,

And thought o’t bitterlie,

And he’s gaen by the wan moon-light,

To meet his Marjorie.

5.

‘O open, open, my true love!

O open, and let me in!’

‘I dare na open, young Benjie,

My three brothers are within.

6.

‘Ye lied, ye lied, my bonny burd,

Sae loud’s I hear ye lie;

As I came by the Lowden banks,

They bade gude e’en to me.

7.

7.³ ‘sets,’ befits.

‘But fare ye weel, my ae fause love,

That I hae loved sae lang!

It sets ye chuse another love,

And let young Benjie gang.’

8.

Then Marjorie turned her round about,

The tear blinding her ee,

‘I darena, darena let thee in,

But I’ll come down to thee.’

9.

9.⁴ ‘linn,’ stream.

Then saft she smiled, and said to him,

‘O what ill hae I done?’

He took her in his armis twa,

And threw her o’er the linn.

10.

10.³ ‘dang,’ overcome.

The stream was strang, the maid was stout,

And laith laith to be dang,

But, ere she wan the Lowden banks,

Her fair colour was wan.

11.

Then up bespak her eldest brother,

‘O see na ye what I see?’

And out then spak her second brother,

‘It’s our sister Marjorie!’

12.

Out then spak her eldest brother,

‘O how shall we her ken?’

And out then spak her youngest brother,

‘There’s a honey mark on her chin.’

13.

Then they’ve ta’en up the comely corpse,

And laid it on the grund:

‘O wha has killed our ae sister,

And how can he be found?

14.

‘The night it is her low lykewake,

The morn her burial day,

And we maun watch at mirk midnight,

And hear what she will say.’

15.

15.³ ‘streikit,’ stretched out.

15.⁴ ‘wake,’ watch.

Wi’ doors ajar, and candle-light,

And torches burning clear,

The streikit corpse, till still midnight,

They waked, but naething hear.

16.

16.⁴ ‘thraw,’ twist.

About the middle o’ the night,

The cocks began to craw,

And at the dead hour o’ the night,

The corpse began to thraw.

17.

‘O wha has done the wrang, sister,

Or dared the deadly sin?

Wha was sae stout, and feared nae dout,

As thraw ye o’er the linn?’

18.

‘Young Benjie was the first ae man,

I laid my love upon;

He was sae stout and proud-hearted,

He threw me o’er the linn.’

19.

‘Sall we young Benjie head, sister,

Sall we young Benjie hang,

Or sall we pike out his twa gray een,

And punish him ere he gang?’

20.

‘Ye mauna Benjie head, brothers,

Ye mauna Benjie hang,

But ye maun pike out his twa gray een,

And punish him ere he gang.

21.

‘Tie a green gravat round his neck,

And lead him out and in,

And the best ae servant about your house,

To wait young Benjie on.

22.

22.⁴ ‘scug,’ expiate.

‘And ay, at every seven years’ end,

Ye’ll tak him to the linn;

For that’s the penance he maun drie,

To scug his deadly sin.’

1.

Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands,

Oh! where have you been?

They have slain the Earl of Murray,

And they lay’d him on the green!

They have, &c.

2.

Now wae be to thee, Huntly,

And wherefore did you sae?

I bade you bring him wi’ you,

But forbade you him to slay.

I bade, &c.

3.

3.² A game of skill and horsemanship.

He was a braw gallant,

And he rid at the ring;

And the bonny Earl of Murray,

Oh! he might have been a King.

And the, &c.

4.

He was a braw gallant,

And he play’d at the ba’;

And the bonny Earl of Murray

Was the flower amang them a’.

And the, &c.

5.

5.² Probably like the last.

He was a braw gallant,

And he play’d at the glove;

And the bonny Earl of Murray,

Oh! he was the Queen’s love.

And the, &c.

6.

6.³ ‘E’er’ = ere.

Oh! lang will his lady

Look o’er the castle Down,

E’er she see the Earl of Murray

Come sounding thro’ the town.

E’er she, &c.

1.

Hie upon Hielands

And low upon Tay,

Bonnie George Campbell

Rade out on a day.

Saddled and bridled

And gallant rade he;

Hame came his gude horse,

But never cam he!

2.

2.⁴ ‘rivin’,’ tearing.

2.⁷ ‘Toom,’ empty.

Out cam his auld mither

Greeting fu’ sair,

And out cam his bonnie bride

Rivin’ her hair.

Saddled and bridled

And booted rade he;

Toom hame cam the saddle,

But never cam he!

3.

3.³ ‘is to big,’ remains to be built.

‘My meadow lies green,

And my corn is unshorn;

My barn is to big,

And my babie’s unborn.’

Saddled and bridled

And booted rade he;

Toom hame cam the saddle,

But never cam he!

1.

My love he built me a bonny bower,

And clad it a’ wi’ lilye flour;

A brawer bower ye ne’er did see,

Than my true love he built for me.

2.

There came a man, by middle day,

He spied his sport, and went away;

And brought the king, that very night,

Who brake my bower, and slew my knight.

3.

3.² ‘poin’d’ = poinded, distrained.

He slew my knight, to me sae dear;

He slew my knight, and poin’d his gear;

My servants all for life did flee,

And left me in extremitie.

4.

I sew’d his sheet, making my mane;

I watched the corpse, myself alane;

I watched his body, night and day;

No living creature came that way.

5.

I took his body on my back,

And whiles I gaed, and whiles I sate;

I digg’d a grave, and laid him in,

And happ’d him with the sod sae green.

6.

But think na ye my heart was sair,

When I laid the moul’ on his yellow hair?

O think na ye my heart was wae,

When I turn’d about, away to gae?

7.

Nae living man I’ll love again,

Since that my lovely knight is slain;

Wi’ ae lock of his yellow hair,

I’ll chain my heart for evermair.

1.

By Arthur’s Dale as late I went

I heard a heavy moan;

I heard a ladie lammenting sair,

And ay she cried ‘Ohone!

2.

‘Ohon, alas! what shall I do,

Tormented night and day!

I never loved a love but ane,

And now he’s gone away.

3.

‘But I will do for my true-love

What ladies woud think sair;

For seven year shall come and go

Ere a kaim gang in my hair.

3.

‘There shall neither a shoe gang on my foot,

Nor a kaim gang in my hair,

Nor e’er a coal nor candle-light

Shine in my bower nae mair.’

5.

She thought her love had been on the sea,

Fast sailling to Bee Ho’m;

But he was in a quiet chamer,

Hearing his ladie’s moan.

6.

‘Be husht, be husht, my ladie dear,

I pray thee mourn not so;

For I am deep sworn on a book

To Bee Ho’m for to go.’

7.

She has gi’en him a chain of the beaten gowd,

And a ring with a ruby stone:

‘As lang as this chain your body binds,

Your blude can never be drawn.

8.

‘But gin this ring shoud fade or fail,

Or the stone shoud change its hue,

Be sure your love is dead and gone,

Or she has proved untrue.’

9.

He had no been at Bonny Bee Ho’m

A twelve mouth and a day,

Till, looking on his gay gowd ring,

The stone grew dark and gray.

10.

‘O ye take my riches to Bee Ho’m,

And deal them presentlie,

To the young that canna, the auld that maunna,

And the blind that does not see.’

11.

Now death has come into his bower,

And split his heart in twain;

So their twa souls flew up to heaven,

And there shall ever remain.

1.

1.⁴ ‘twin’d’ = twinned, separated.

‘My love has built a bony ship, and set her on the sea,

With seven score good mariners to bear her company;

There’s three score is sunk, and three score dead at sea,

And the Lowlands of Holland has twin’d my love and me.

2.

2.³ ‘rout,’ roar.

2.⁴ ‘withershins,’ backwards, the wrong way, the opposite of the desired way. Often = contrary to the way of the sun, but not necessarily. See note on etymology, Chambers, MediÆval Stage, i. 129.

‘My love he built another ship, and set her on the main,

And nane but twenty mariners for to bring her hame;

But the weary wind began to rise, and the sea began to rout,

My love then and his bonny ship turn’d withershins about.

3.

3.¹ ‘coif,’ cap, head-dress.

‘There shall neither coif come on my head nor comb come in my hair;

There shall neither coal nor candle-light shine in my bower mair;

Nor will I love another one until the day I die,

For I never lov’d a love but one, and he’s drowned in the sea.’

4.

4.¹ ‘had’ = haud, hold.

4.² ‘neen nae’ = need na, need not.

‘O had your tongue, my daughter dear, be still and be content,

There are mair lads in Galloway, ye neen nae sair lament:’

‘O there is none in Gallow, there’s none at a’ for me,

For I never lov’d a love but one, and he’s drowned in the sea.’

1.

I wish I were where Helen lies,

Night and day on me she cries,

O that I were where Helen lies,

On fair Kirconnell Lee!

2.

Curst be the heart that thought the thought,

And curst the hand that fired the shot,

When in my arms burd Helen dropt,

And died to succour me.

3.

O think na ye my heart was sair,

When my love dropt down and spak nae mair,

There did she swoon wi’ meikle care,

On fair Kirconnell Lee.

4.

As I went down the water side,

None but my foe to be my guide,

None but my foe to be my guide,

On fair Kirconnell Lee.

5.

I lighted down, my sword did draw,

I hacked him in pieces sma’,

I hacked him in pieces sma’,

For her sake that died for me.

6.

O Helen fair, beyond compare,

I’ll make a garland of thy hair,

Shall bind my heart for evermair,

Untill the day I die.

7.

O that I were where Helen lies,

Night and day on me she cries,

Out of my bed she bids me rise,

Says, ‘Haste, and come to me!’

8.

O Helen fair! O Helen chaste!

If I were with thee I were blest,

Where thou lies low, and takes thy rest

On fair Kirconnell Lee.

9.

I wish my grave were growing green,

A winding-sheet drawn ower my e’en

And I in Helen’s arms lying

On fair Kirconnell Lee.

10.

I wish I were where Helen lies,

Night and day on me she cries,

And I am weary of the skies,

For her sake that died for me.

1.

Four and twenty bonny boys

Were playing at the ba’,

And by it came him sweet Sir Hugh,

And he play’d o’er them a’.

2.

He kick’d the ba’ with his right foot,

And catch’d it wi’ his knee,

And throuch-and-thro’ the Jew’s window

He gard the bonny ba’ flee.

3.

He’s doen him to the Jew’s castell,

And walk’d it round about;

And there he saw the Jew’s daughter,

At the window looking out.

4.

‘Throw down the ba’, ye Jew’s daughter,

Throw down the ba’ to me!’

‘Never a bit,’ says the Jew’s daughter,

‘Till up to me come ye.’

5.

‘How will I come up? How can I come up?

How can I come to thee?

For as ye did to my auld father,

The same ye’ll do to me.’

6.

She’s gane till her father’s garden,

And pu’d an apple red and green;

‘Twas a’ to wyle him sweet Sir Hugh,

And to entice him in.

7.

She’s led him in through ae dark door,

And sae has she thro’ nine;

She’s laid him on a dressing-table,

And stickit him like a swine.

8.

And first came out the thick, thick blood,

And syne came out the thin,

And syne came out the bonny heart’s blood;

There was nae mair within.

9.

She’s row’d him in a cake o’ lead,

Bade him lie still and sleep;

She’s thrown him in Our Lady’s draw-well,

Was fifty fathom deep.

10.

When bells were rung, and mass was sung,

And a’ the bairns came hame,

When every lady gat hame her son,

The Lady Maisry gat nane.

11.

She’s ta’en her mantle her about,

Her coffer by the hand,

And she’s gane out to seek her son,

And wander’d o’er the land.

12.

She’s doen her to the Jew’s castell,

Where a’ were fast asleep:

‘Gin ye be there, my sweet Sir Hugh,

I pray you to me speak.’

13.

She’s doen her to the Jew’s garden,

Thought he had been gathering fruit:

‘Gin ye be there, my sweet Sir Hugh,

I pray you to me speak.’

14.

She near’d Our Lady’s deep draw-well,

Was fifty fathom deep:

‘Whare’er ye be, my sweet Sir Hugh,

I pray you to me speak.’

15.

‘Gae hame, gae hame, my mither dear.

Prepare my winding sheet,

And at the back o’ merry Lincoln

The morn I will you meet.’

16.

Now Lady Maisry is gane hame,

Made him a winding sheet,

And at the back o’ merry Lincoln

The dead corpse did her meet.

17.

And a’ the bells o’ merry Lincoln

Without men’s hands were rung,

And a’ the books o’ merry Lincoln

Were read without man’s tongue,

And ne’er was such a burial

Sin Adam’s days begun.

1.

There was a knight and a lady bright,

Had a true tryste at the broom;

The ane gaed early in the morning,

The other in the afternoon.

2.

And ay she sat in her mother’s bower door,

And ay she made her mane:

‘O whether should I gang to the Broomfield Hill,

Or should I stay at hame?

3.

3.⁴ ‘mansworn,’ perjured.

‘For if I gang to the Broomfield Hill,

My maidenhead is gone;

And if I chance to stay at hame,

My love will ca’ me mansworn.’

4.

Up then spake a witch-woman,

Ay from the room aboon:

‘O ye may gang to the Broomfield Hill,

And yet come maiden hame.

5.

5.⁴ ‘broom-cow,’ twig of broom.

‘For when ye gang to the Broomfield Hill,

Ye’ll find your love asleep,

With a silver belt about his head,

And a broom-cow at his feet.

6.

‘Take ye the blossom of the broom,

The blossom it smells sweet,

And strew it at your true-love’s head,

And likewise at his feet.

7.

‘Take ye the rings off your fingers,

Put them on his right hand,

To let him know, when he doth awake,

His love was at his command.’

8.

1.

‘Twas on an evening fair I went to take the air,

I heard a maid making her moan;

Said, ‘Saw ye my father? Or saw ye my mother?

Or saw ye my brother John?

Or saw ye the lad that I love best,

And his name it is Sweet William?’

2.

‘I saw not your father, I saw not your mother,

Nor saw I your brother John;

But I saw the lad that ye love best,

And his name it is Sweet William.’

3.

‘O was my love riding? or was he running?

Or was he walking alone?

Or says he that he will be here this night?

O dear, but he tarries long!’

4.

‘Your love was not riding, nor yet was he running,

But fast was he walking alone;

He says that he will be here this night to thee,

And forbids you to think long.’

5.

Then Willie he has gane to his love’s door,

And gently tirled the pin:

‘O sleep ye, wake ye, my bonny Meggie,

Ye’ll rise, lat your true-love in.’

6.

6.¹ ‘swack,’ nimble; ‘snack,’ quick.

The lassie being swack ran to the door fu’ snack,

And gently she lifted the pin,

Then into her arms sae large and sae lang

She embraced her bonny love in.

7.

‘O will ye gang to the cards or the dice,

Or to a table o’ wine?

Or will ye gang to a well-made bed,

Well cover’d wi’ blankets fine?’

8.

‘O I winna gang to the cards nor the dice,

Nor yet to a table o’ wine;

But I’ll rather gang to a well-made bed,

Well-cover’d wi’ blankets fine.’

9.

‘My braw little cock, sits on the house tap,

Ye’ll craw not till it be day,

And your kame shall be o’ the gude red gowd,

And your wings o’ the siller grey.’

10.

The cock being fause untrue he was,

And he crew an hour ower seen;

They thought it was the gude day-light,

But it was but the light of the meen.

11.

‘Ohon, alas!’ says bonny Meggie then,

‘This night we hae sleeped ower lang!’

‘O what is the matter?’ then Willie replied,

‘The faster then I must gang.’

12.

Then Sweet Willie raise, and put on his claise,

And drew till him stockings and sheen,

And took by his side his berry-brown sword,

And ower yon lang hill he’s gane.

13.

13.⁴ ‘fear,’ frighten.

As he gaed ower yon high, high hill,

And down yon dowie den,

Great and grievous was the ghost he saw,

Would fear ten thousand men.

14.

As he gaed in by Mary kirk,

And in by Mary stile,

Wan and weary was the ghost

Upon sweet Willie did smile.

15.

‘Aft hae ye travell’d this road, Willie,

Aft hae ye travell’d in sin;

Ye ne’er said sae muckle for your saul

As, My Maker bring me hame!

16.

‘Aft hae ye travell’d this road, Willie,

Your bonny love to see;

But ye’ll never travel this road again

Till ye leave a token wi’ me.’

17.

17.² ‘frae gair to gair,’ from side to side.

17.⁵ ‘dice,’ pew.

Then she has ta’en him Sweet Willie,

Riven him frae gair to gair,

And on ilka seat o’ Mary’s kirk

O’ Willie she hang a share;

Even abeen his love Meggie’s dice,

Hang’s head and yellow hair.

18.

18.⁴ ‘reave,’ tore.

His father made moan, his mother made moan,

But Meggie made muckle mair;

His father made moan, his mother made moan,

But Meggie reave her yellow hair.

1.

Adam lay i-bowndyn,

bowndyn in a bond,

Fowre thowsand wynter

thowt he not to long;

2.

2.⁴ ‘here,’ their. The ‘book’ is, of course, the Bible.

And al was for an appil,

an appil that he tok,

As clerkes fyndyn wretyn

in here book.

3.

3.⁴ ‘hevene’ is the old genitive = of heaven.

Ne hadde the appil take ben,

the appil taken ben,

Ne hadde never our lady

a ben hevene qwen.

4.

4.³ ‘mown’ = can or may.

Blyssid be the tyme

that appil take was!

Therfore we mown syngyn

Deo gracias.

1.

Seynt Stevene was a clerk

in kyng Herowdes halle,

And servyd him of bred and cloth,

as every kyng befalle.

2.

Stevyn out of kechoun cam

wyth boris hed on honde,

He saw a sterre was fayr and brycht

over Bedlem stonde.

3.

He kyst adoun the bores hed,

and went in to the halle;

‘I forsak the, kyng Herowdes,

and thi werkes alle.

4.

‘I forsak the, kyng Herowdes,

and thi werkes alle,

Ther is a chyld in Bedlem born

is beter than we alle.’

5.

5.¹ What aileth thee?

5.³, etc. ‘Lakkyt the,’ Dost thou lack.

‘Quat eylyt the, Stevene?

quat is the befalle?

Lakkyt the eyther mete or drynk

in kyng Herodwes halle?’

6.

‘Lakit me neyther mete ne drynk

in king Herowdes halle;

There is a chyld in Bedlem born,

is beter than we alle.’

7.

7.¹ ‘wod,’ mad.

7.² ‘brede,’ rouse, i.e. become angry (?).

‘Quat eylyt the, Stevyn? art thou wod?

or thou gynnyst to brede?

Lakkyt the eyther gold or fe,

or ony ryche wede?’

8.

‘Lakyt me neyther gold ne fe,

ne non ryche wede;

Ther is a chyld in Bedlem born,

schal helpyn us at our nede.’

9.

‘That is al so soth, Stevyn,

al so soth i-wys,

As this capoun crowe schal

that lyth here in myn dysh.’

10.

That word was not so sone seyd,

that word in that halle,

The capoun crew Cristus natus est!

among the lordes alle.

11.

11.¹, etc. ‘Rysyt,’ ‘ledit,’ ‘stonit’: these are all imperatives.

11.² ‘be to,’ etc., by twos and all one by one (?). Cp. Fair Margaret and Sweet William, 10.² (First Series, p. 65).

‘Rysyt up, myn turmentowres,

be to and al be on,

And ledit Stevyn out of this town

and stonit him with ston.’

12.

Tokyn he Stevene,

and stonyd hym in the way;

And therfore is his evyn

on Crystes owyn day.

1.

Joseph was an old man,

And an old man was he,

When he wedded Mary,

In the land of Galilee.

2.

Joseph and Mary walked

Through an orchard good,

Where was cherries and berries,

So red as any blood.

3.

Joseph and Mary walked

Through an orchard green,

Where was berries and cherries,

As thick as might be seen.

4.

O then bespoke Mary,

So meek and so mild:

‘Pluck me one cherry, Joseph,

For I am with child.’

5.

O then bespoke Joseph,

With words most unkind:

‘Let him pluck thee a cherry

That got thee with child.’

6.

O then bespoke the babe,

Within his mother’s womb:

‘Bow down then the tallest tree,

For my mother to have some.’

7.

Then bowed down the highest tree

Unto his mother’s hand;

Then she cried, ‘See, Joseph,

I have cherries at command.’

8.

O then bespake Joseph:

‘I have done Mary wrong;

But cheer up, my dearest,

And be not cast down.’

9.

Then Mary plucked a cherry

As red as the blood;

Then Mary went home

With her heavy load.

10.

Then Mary took her babe,

And sat him on her knee,

Saying, ‘My dear son, tell me

What this world will be.’

11.

‘O I shall be as dead, mother,

As the stones in the wall;

O the stones in the streets, mother,

Shall mourn for me all.

12.

‘Upon Easter-day, mother,

My uprising shall be;

O the sun and the moon, mother,

Shall both rise with me.’

13.

As Joseph was a walking,

He heard an angel sing:

‘This night shall be born

Our heavenly king.

14.

‘He neither shall be born

In housen nor in hall,

Nor in the place of Paradise,

But in an ox’s stall.

15.

‘He neither shall be clothed

In purple nor in pall,

But all in fair linen,

As wear babies all.

16.

‘He neither shall be rocked

In silver nor in gold,

But in a wooden cradle,

That rocks on the mould.

17.

‘He neither shall be christened

In white wine nor red,

But with fair spring water,

With which we were christened.’

1.

1.² ‘reign’ = renne, the old form of run.

1.⁴ ‘Carnal,’ jackdaw (? der. cornicula, corneille).

As I pass’d by a river side,

And there as I did reign,

In argument I chanced to hear

A Carnal and a Crane.

2.

The Carnal said unto the Crane,

‘If all the world should turn,

Before we had the Father,

But now we have the Son!

3.

‘From whence does the Son come,

From where and from what place?’

He said, ‘In a manger,

Between an ox and ass.’

4.

‘I pray thee,’ said the Carnal,

‘Tell me before thou go,

Was not the mother of Jesus

Conceiv’d by the Holy Ghost?’

5.

‘She was the purest virgin,

And the cleanest from sin;

She was the handmaid of our Lord,

And mother of our King.’

6.

‘Where is the golden cradle

That Christ was rocked in?

Where are the silken sheets

That Jesus was wrapt in?’

7.

‘A manger was the cradle

That Christ was rocked in:

The provender the asses left

So sweetly he slept on.’

8.

There was a star in the east land

So bright it did appear,

Into King Herod’s chamber,

And where King Herod were.

9.

The Wise Men soon espied it,

And told the king on high

A princely babe was born that night

No king could e’er destroy.

10.

10.⁴ ‘fences,’ times.

‘If this be true,’ King Herod said,

‘As thou tellest unto me,

This roasted cock that lies in the dish

Shall crow full fences three.’

11.

The cock soon freshly feather’d was,

By the work of God’s own hand,

And then three fences crowed he,

In the dish where he did stand.

12.

‘Rise up, rise up, you merry men all,

See that you ready be;

All children under two years old

Now slain they all shall be.’

13.

Then Jesus, ah, and Joseph,

And Mary, that was so pure,

They travell’d into Egypt,

As you shall find it sure.

14.

And when they came to Egypt’s land,

Amongst those fierce wild beasts,

Mary, she being weary,

Must needs sit down to rest.

15.

‘Come sit thee down,’ says Jesus,

‘Come sit thee down by me,

And thou shalt see how these wild beasts

Do come and worship me.’

16.

First came the lovely lion,

Which [to] Jesus’ grace did spring,

And of the wild beasts in the field

The Lion shall be king.

17.

We’ll choose our virtuous princes

Of birth and high degree,

In every sundry nation,

Where’er we come and see.

18.

Then Jesus, ah, and Joseph,

And Mary, that was unknown,

They travelled by a husbandman,

Just while his seed was sown.

19.

‘God speed thee, man,’ said Jesus,

‘Go fetch thy ox and wain,

And carry home thy corn again

Which thou this day hast sown.’

20.

The husbandman fell on his knees

Even upon his face:

‘Long time hast thou been looked for,

But now thou art come at last.

21.

21.⁴ i.e. though all (mankind) be undeserving.

‘And I myself do now believe

Thy name is Jesus called;

Redeemer of mankind thou art,

Though undeserving all.’

22.

‘The truth, man, thou hast spoken,

Of it thou mayst be sure,

For I must lose my precious blood

For thee and thousands more.

23.

‘If any one should come this way,

And enquire for me alone,

Tell them that Jesus passed by

As thou thy seed didst sow.’

24.

After that there came King Herod,

With his train so furiously,

Enquiring of the husbandman

Whether Jesus passed by.

25.

‘Why, the truth it must be spoke,

And the truth it must be known;

For Jesus passed by this way

When my seed was sown.

26.

‘But now I have it reapen,

And some laid on my wain,

Ready to fetch and carry

Into my barn again.’

27.

‘Turn back,’ said the captain,

‘Your labour and mine’s in vain;

It’s full three quarters of a year

Since he his seed hath sown.’

28.

So Herod was deceived,

By the work of God’s own hand,

And further he proceeded

Into the Holy Land.

29.

There’s thousands of children young

Which for his sake did die;

Do not forbid those little ones,

And do not them deny.

30.

The truth now I have spoken,

And the truth now I have shown;

Even the Blessed Virgin

She’s now brought forth a son.

1.

As it fell out upon a day,

Rich Dives he made a feast,

And he invited all his friends,

And gentry of the best.

2.

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,

And down at Dives’ door:

‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,

Bestow upon the poor.’

3.

‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,

That lies begging at my door;

No meat nor drink will I give thee,

Nor bestow upon the poor.’

4.

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,

And down at Dives’ wall:

‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,

Or with hunger starve I shall.’

5.

‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,

That lies begging at my wall;

No meat nor drink will I give thee,

But with hunger starve you shall.’

6.

Then Lazarus laid him down and down,

And down at Dives’ gate:

‘Some meat, some drink, brother Dives,

For Jesus Christ his sake.’

7.

‘Thou art none of my brother, Lazarus,

That lies begging at my gate;

No meat nor drink will I give thee,

For Jesus Christ his sake.’

8.

Then Dives sent out his merry men,

To whip poor Lazarus away;

They had no power to strike a stroke,

But flung their whips away.

9.

Then Dives sent out his hungry dogs.

To bite him as he lay;

They had no power to bite at all,

But licked his sores away.

10.

As it fell out upon a day,

Poor Lazarus sickened and died;

There came two angels out of heaven.

His soul therein to guide.

11.

‘Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus,

And go along with me;

For you’ve a place prepared in heaven,

To sit on an angel’s knee.’

12.

As it fell out upon a day,

Rich Dives sickened and died;

There came two serpents out of hell,

His soul therein to guide.

13.

‘Rise up, rise up, brother Dives,

And go with us to see

A dismal place prepared in hell,

From which thou canst not flee.’

14.

Then Dives looked up with his eyes.

And saw poor Lazarus blest:

‘Give me one drop of water, brother Lazarus,

To quench my flaming thirst.

15.

‘Oh! had I as many years to abide,

As there are blades of grass,

Then there would be an end, but now

Hell’s pains will ne’er be past.

16.

‘Oh! was I now but alive again,

The space of an half hour:

Oh! that I’d made my peace secure,

Then the devil should have no power.’

1.

It fell upon a Wodensday

Brown Robyn’s men went to sea,

But they saw neither moon nor sun,

Nor starlight wi’ their ee.

2.

2.¹ ‘kevels,’ lots.

‘We’ll cast kevels us amang,

See wha the unhappy man may be;’

The kevel fell on Brown Robyn,

The master-man was he.

3.

‘It is nae wonder,’ said Brown Robyn,

‘Altho I dinna thrive,

For wi’ my mither I had twa bairns,

And wi’ my sister five.

4.

‘But tie me to a plank o’ wude

And throw me in the sea;

And if I sink; ye may bid me sink,

But if I swim, just lat me bee.’

5.

They’ve tyed him to a plank o’ wude,

And thrown him in the sea;

He didna sink, tho’ they bade him sink;

He swim’d, and they bade lat him bee.

6.

He hadna been into the sea

An hour but barely three,

Till by it came Our Blessed Lady,

Her dear young son her wi’.

7.

‘Will ye gang to your men again,

Or will ye gang wi’ me?

Will ye gang to the high heavens,

Wi’ my dear son and me?’

8.

‘I winna gang to my men again,

For they would be feared at mee;

But I woud gang to the high heavens,

Wi’ thy dear son and thee.’

9.

‘It’s for nae honour ye did to me, Brown Robyn,

It’s for nae guid ye did to mee;

But a’ is for your fair confession

You’ve made upon the sea.’

1.

Fair lady Isabel sits in her bower sewing,

Aye as the gowans grow gay

There she heard an elf-knight blawing his horn.

The first morning in May

2.

‘If I had yon horn that I hear blawing,

And yon elf-knight to sleep in my bosom.’

3.

This maiden had scarcely these words spoken,

Till in at her window the elf-knight has luppen.

4.

‘It’s a very strange matter, fair maiden,’ said he,

‘I canna blaw my horn but ye call on me.

5.

‘But will ye go to yon greenwood side?

If ye canna gang, I will cause you to ride.’

6.

He leapt on a horse, and she on another,

And they rode on to the greenwood together.

7.

‘Light down, light down, Lady Isabel,’ said he,

‘We are come to the place where you are to die.’

8.

‘Hae mercy, hae mercy, kind sir, on me,

Till ance my dear father and mother I see.’

9.

‘Seven king’s-daughters here hae I slain,

And ye shall be the eight o’ them.’

10.

‘O sit down a while, lay your head on my knee,

That we may hae some rest before that I die.’

11.

She stroak’d him sae fast, the nearer he did creep,

Wi’ a sma’ charm she lull’d him fast asleep.

12.

12.¹ ‘ban,’ bound.

12.² ‘dag-durk,’ dagger.

Wi’ his ain sword-belt sae fast as she ban him,

Wi’ his ain dag-durk sae sair as she dang him.

13.

‘If seven king’s-daughters here ye hae slain,

Lye ye here, a husband to them a’.’

1.

There was a lady of the North Country,

Lay the bent to the bonny broom

And she had lovely daughters three.

Fa la la la, fa la la la ra re

2.

There was a knight of noble worth

Which also lived in the North.

3.

The knight, of courage stout and brave,

A wife he did desire to have.

4.

He knocked at the ladie’s gate

One evening when it was late.

5.

5.¹ The broadsides all give ‘youngest’ for ‘eldest.’

The eldest sister let him in,

And pin’d the door with a silver pin.

6.

The second sister she made his bed,

And laid soft pillows under his head.

7.

The youngest daughter that same night,

She went to bed with this young knight.

8.

And in the morning, when it was day,

These words unto him she did say:

9.

‘Now you have had your will,’ quoth she,

‘I pray, sir knight, will you marry me?’

10.

The young brave knight to her replyed,

‘Thy suit, fair maid, shall not be deny’d:

11.

‘If thou canst answer me questions three,

This very day will I marry thee.’

12.

‘Kind sir, in love, O then,’ quoth she,

‘Tell me what your three questions be.’

13.

‘O what is longer than the way,

Or what is deeper than the sea?

14.

‘Or what is louder than the horn,

Or what is sharper than a thorn?

15.

‘Or what is greener than the grass,

Or what is worse than a woman was?’

16.

‘O love is longer than the way,

And hell is deeper than the sea.

17.

‘And thunder is louder than the horn,

And hunger is sharper than a thorn.

18.

‘And poyson is greener than the grass,

And the Devil is worse than woman was.’

19.

When she these questions answered had,

The knight became exceeding glad.

20.

And having truly try’d her wit,

He much commended her for it.

21.

And after, as it is verifi’d,

He made of her his lovely bride.

22.

So now, fair maidens all, adieu,

This song I dedicate to you.

23.

I wish that you may constant prove

Vnto the man that you do love.

1.

The Lord of Rosslyn’s daughter gaed through the wud her lane,

And there she met Captain Wedderburn, a servant to the king.

He said unto his livery man, ‘Were ’t na agen the law,

I wad tak her to my ain bed, and lay her at the wa’.’

2.

2.⁴ The ‘stock’ of a bed is the outer side, and the ‘wa’’ (= wall) the inner. Ancient beds were made like boxes with the outer side cut away.

‘I’m walking here my lane,’ she says, ‘amang my father’s trees;

And ye may lat me walk my lane, kind sir, now gin ye please.

The supper-bell it will be rung, and I’ll be miss’d awa’;

Sae I’ll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa’.’

3.

He said, ‘My pretty lady, I pray lend me your hand,

And ye’ll hae drums and trumpets always at your command;

And fifty men to guard ye wi’, that weel their swords can draw;

Sae we’ll baith lie in ae bed, and ye’ll lie at the wa’.’

4.

‘Haud awa’ frae me, kind sir, I pray lat go my hand;

The supper-bell it will be rung, nae langer maun I stand.

My father he’ll na supper tak, gif I be miss’d awa’;

Sae I’ll na lie in your bed, at neither stock nor wa’.’

5.

‘O my name is Captain Wedderburn, my name I’ll ne’er deny,

And I command ten thousand men, upo’ yon mountains high.

Tho’ your father and his men were here, of them I’d stand na awe,

But should tak ye to my ain bed, and lay ye neist the wa’.’

6.

Then he lap aff his milk-white steed, and set the lady on,

And a’ the way he walk’d on foot, he held her by the hand;

He held her by the middle jimp, for fear that she should fa’;

Saying, ‘I’ll tak ye to my ain bed, and lay thee at the wa’.’

7.

7.¹ ‘quartering-house,’ lodging-house.

He took her to his quartering-house, his landlady looked ben,

Saying, ‘Monie a pretty ladie in Edinbruch I’ve seen;

But sic ’na pretty ladie is not into it a’:

Gae, mak for her a fine down-bed, and lay her at the wa’.’

8.

‘O haud awa’ frae me, kind sir, I pray ye lat me be,

For I’ll na lie in your bed till I get dishes three;

Dishes three maun be dress’d for me, gif I should eat them a’,

Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa’.

9.

9.³ ‘gaw,’ gall. It is an ancient superstition that the dove or pigeon has no gall, the fact being that the gall-bladder is absent. See Sir Thomas Browne’s Pseudodoxia Epidemica, iii. 3.

‘Tis I maun hae to my supper a chicken without a bane;

And I maun hae to my supper a cherry without a stane;

And I maun hae to my supper a bird without a gaw,

Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa’.’

10.

10.³ ‘genty,’ neat, limber. —Jamieson.

‘Whan the chicken’s in the shell, I’m sure it has na bane;

And whan the cherry’s in the bloom, I wat it has na stane;

The dove she is a genty bird, she flees without a gaw;

Sae we’ll baith lie in ae bed, and ye’ll be at the wa’.’

11.

‘O haud awa’ frae me, kind sir, I pray ye give me owre,

For I’ll na lie in your bed, till I get presents four;

Presents four ye maun gie me, and that is twa and twa,

Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa’.

12.

‘Tis I maun hae some winter fruit that in December grew,

And I maun hae a silk mantil that waft gaed never through;

A sparrow’s horn, a priest unborn, this nicht to join us twa,

Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa’.’

13.

‘My father has some winter fruit that in December grew;

My mither has a silk mantil the waft gaed never through;

A sparrow’s horn ye soon may find, there’s ane on ev’ry claw,

And twa upo’ the gab o’ it, and ye shall get them a’.

14.

14.¹ ‘yett,’ gate.

‘The priest he stands without the yett, just ready to come in;

Nae man can say he e’er was born, nae man without he sin;

He was haill cut frae his mither’s side, and frae the same let fa’:

Sae we’ll baith lie in ae bed, and ye’se lie at the wa’.’

15.

‘O haud awa’ frae me, kind sir, I pray don’t me perplex,

For I’ll na lie in your bed till ye answer questions six:

Questions six ye maun answer me, and that is four and twa,

Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa’.

16.

‘O what is greener than the gress, what’s higher than thae trees?

O what is worse than women’s wish, what’s deeper than the seas?

What bird craws first, what tree buds first, what first does on them fa’?

Before I lie in your bed, at either stock or wa’.’

17.

‘Death is greener than the gress, heaven higher than thae trees;

The devil’s waur than women’s wish, hell’s deeper than the seas;

The cock craws first, the cedar buds first, dew first on them does fa’;

Sae we’ll baith lie in ae bed, and ye’se lie at the wa’,’

18.

Little did this lady think, that morning whan she raise,

That this was for to be the last o’ a’ her maiden days.

But there’s na into the king’s realm to be found a blither twa,

And now she’s Mrs. Wedderburn, and she lies at the wa’.

My plaid awa, my plaid awa,

And ore the hill and far awa,

And far awa to Norrowa,

My plaid shall not be blown awa.

1.

The elphin knight sits on yon hill,

Ba, ba, ba, lilli-ba

He blaws his horn both lowd and shril.

The wind hath blown my plaid awa

2.

He blowes it east, he blowes it west,

He blowes it where he lyketh best.

3.

3.¹ ‘kist,’ chest.

‘I wish that horn were in my kist,

Yea, and the knight in my armes two.’

4.

She had no sooner these words said,

When that the knight came to her bed.

5.

‘Thou art over young a maid,’ quoth he,

‘Married with me thou il wouldst be.’

6.

‘I have a sister younger than I,

And she was married yesterday.’

7.

‘Married with me if thou wouldst be,

A courtesie thou must do to me.

8.

8.¹ ‘sark,’ shirt.

‘For thou must shape a sark to me,

Without any cut or heme,’ quoth he.

9.

‘Thou must shape it knife-and-sheerlesse,

And also sue it needle-threedlesse.’

10.

‘If that piece of courtesie I do to thee,

Another thou must do to me.

11.

‘I have an aiker of good ley-land,

Which lyeth low by yon sea-strand.

12.

12.¹ ‘eare,’ plough.

‘For thou must eare it with thy horn,

So thou must sow it with thy corn.

13.

13.¹ ‘bigg,’ build.

‘And bigg a cart of stone and lyme,

Robin Redbreast he must trail it hame.

14.

‘Thou must barn it in a mouse-holl,

And thrash it into thy shoe’s soll.

15.

15.¹ ‘looff,’ palm.

15.² ‘seek,’ sack.

‘And thou must winnow it in thy looff,

And also seek it in thy glove.

16.

‘For thou must bring it over the sea,

And thou must bring it dry home to me.

17.

‘When thou hast gotten thy turns well done,

Then come to me and get thy sark then.’

18.

‘I’ll not quite my plaid for my life;

It haps my seven bairns and my wife.’

The wind shall not blow my plaid awa

19.

‘My maidenhead I’l then keep still,

Let the elphin knight do what he will.’

The wind’s not blown my plaid awa

1.

An ancient story Ile tell you anon

Of a notable prince, that was called King John;

And he ruled England with maine and with might,

For he did great wrong, and maintein’d little right.

2.

And Ile tell you a story, a story so merrye,

Concerning the Abbot of CanterbÙrye;

How for his house-keeping, and high renowne,

They rode post for him to London towne.

3.

An hundred men, the king did heare say,

The abbot kept in his house every day;

And fifty golde chaynes, without any doubt,

In velvet coates waited the abbot about.

4.

‘How now, father abbot, I heare it of thee,

Thou keepest a far better house than mee,

And for thy house-keeping and high renowne,

I feare thou work’st treason against my crown.’

5.

5.³ ‘deere,’ harm.

‘My liege,’ quo’ the abbot, ‘I would it were knowne,

I never spend nothing but what is my owne;

And I trust, your grace will do me no deere,

For spending of my owne true-gotten geere.’

6.

‘Yes, yes, father abbot, thy fault it is highe,

And now for the same thou needest must dye;

For except thou canst answer me questions three,

Thy head shall be smitten from thy bodÌe.

7.

‘And first,’ quo’ the king, ‘when I’m in this stead,

With my crowne of golde so faire on my head,

Among all my liege-men so noble of birthe

Thou must tell me to one penny what I am worthe.

8.

‘Secondlye, tell me, without any doubt,

How soone I may ride the whole world about;

And at the third question thou must not shrink,

But tell me here truly what I do think.’

9.

‘O, these are hard questions for my shallow witt,

Nor I cannot answer your grace as yet;

But if you will give me but three weekes space,

Ile do my endeavour to answer your grace.’

10.

‘Now three weeks space to thee will I give.

And that is the longest time thou hast to live;

For if thou dost not answer my questions three,

Thy lands and thy livings are forfeit to mee.’

11.

Away rode the abbot all sad at that word,

And he rode to Cambridge, and Oxenford;

But never a doctor there was so wise,

That could with his learning an answer devise.

12.

Then home rode the abbot of comfort so cold,

And he mett his shepheard a going to fold:

‘How now, my lord abbot, you are welcome home;

What newes do you bring us from good king John?’

13.

‘Sad newes, sad newes, shepheard, I must give;

That I have but three days more to live:

For if I do not answer him questions three,

My head will be smitten from my bodÌe.

14.

‘The first is to tell him there in that stead,

With his crowne of golde so fair on his head,

Among all his liege men so noble of birth,

To within one penny of what he is worth. 

15.

‘The seconde, to tell him, without any doubt,

How soone he may ride this whole world about:

And at the third question I must not shrinke,

But tell him there truly what he does thinke.’

16.

‘Now cheare up, sire abbot, did you never hear yet,

That a fool he may learn a wise man witt?

Lend me horse, and serving-men, and your apparel.

And I’ll ride to London to answere your quarrel.

17.

‘Nay frowne not, if it hath been told unto mee,

I am like your lordship as ever may bee:

And if you will but lend me your gowne,

There is none shall knowe us at fair London towne.’

18.

‘Now horses, and serving-men thou shalt have,

With sumptuous array most gallant and brave;

With crozier, and miter, and rochet, and cope,

Fit to appeare ’fore our fader the pope.’

19.

‘Now welcome, sire abbot,’ the king he did say,

‘’Tis well thou’rt come back to keepe thy day;

For an if thou canst answer my questions three,

Thy life and thy living both saved shall be.

20.

‘And first, when thou seest me here in this stead,

With my crown of golde so fair on my head,

Among all my liege-men so noble of birthe,

Tell me to one penny what I am worth.’

21.

‘For thirty pence our Saviour was sold

Amonge the false Jewes, as I have bin told;

And twenty nine is the worth of thee,

For I thinke, thou art one penny worser than he.’

22.

22.¹ ‘Meaning probably St. Botolph.’ —Percy’s note. But the Folio gives St. Andrew, so that it is Percy’s own emendation.

The king he laughed, and swore by St. Bittel,

‘I did not think I had been worth so littel!

—Now secondly tell me, without any doubt,

How soone I may ride this whole world about.’

23.

‘You must rise with the sun, and ride with the same,

Until the next morning he riseth againe;

And then your grace need not make any doubt,

But in twenty-four hours you’ll ride it about.’

24.

The king he laughed, and swore by St. Jone,

‘I did not think it could be gone so soone!

—Now from the third question thou must not shrinke,

But tell me here truly what I do thinke.’

25.

‘Yea, that I shall do, and make your grace merry:

You thinke I’m the abbot of CanterbÙrye;

But I’m his poor shepheard, as plain you may see,

That am come to beg pardon for him and for me.’

26.

The king he laughed, and swore by the masse,

‘Ile make thee lord abbot this day in his place!’

‘Now naye, my liege, be not in such speede,

For alacke I can neither write, ne reade.’

27.

‘Four nobles a weeke, then I will give thee,

For this merry jest thou hast showne unto mee;

And tell the old abbot when thou comest home,

Thou hast brought him a pardon from good king John.’

1.

‘O whare are ye gaun?’

Quo the fause knicht upon the road:

‘I’m gaun to the scule,’

Quo’ the wee boy, and still he stude.

2.

2.² ‘Atweel,’ = I wot well, truly.

‘What is that upon your back?’

‘Atweel it is my bukes.’

3.

3.² ‘peit,’ peat, carried to school to contribute to the fire.

‘What’s that ye’ve got in your arm?’

‘Atweel it is my peit.’

4.

4.¹ ‘Wha’s aucht,’ who owns.

‘Wha’s aucht they sheep?’

‘They’re mine and my mither’s.’

5.

‘How monie o’ them are mine?’

‘A’ they that hae blue tails.’

6.

‘I wiss ye were on yon tree:’

‘And a gude ladder under me.’

7.

‘And the ladder for to break:’

‘And you for to fa’ down.’

8.

‘I wiss ye were in yon sie:’

‘And a gude bottom under me.’

9.

‘And the bottom for to break:’

‘And ye to be drowned.’

1.

It was the worthy lord of Learne,

He was a lord of a high degree;

He had no more children but one son,

He set him to school to learn courtesy.

2.

Learning did so proceed with that child—

I tell you all in verity—

He learned more upon one day

Than other children did on three.

3.

And then bespake the school-master,

Unto the lord of Learne said he,

‘I think thou be some stranger born,

For the Holy Ghost remains with thee.’

4.

He said, ‘I am no stranger born,

Forsooth, master, I tell it to thee,

It is a gift of Almighty God

Which He hath given unto me.’

5.

The school-master turn’d him round about,

His angry mind he thought to assuage,

For the child could answer him so quickly,

And was of so tender year of age.

6.

The child, he caused a steed to be brought,

A golden bridle done him upon;

He took his leave of his schoolfellows,

And home the child that he is gone.

7.

And when he came before his father,

He fell low down upon his knee,

‘My blessing, father, I would ask,

If Christ would grant you would give it me.’

8.

‘Now God thee bless, my son and my heir,

His servant in heaven that thou may be!

What tidings hast thou brought me, child,

Thou art comen home so soon to me?’

9.

9.² The line is partly cut away in the MS.: I follow the suggestion of Hales and Furnivall.

‘Good tidings, father, I have you brought,

Good tidings I hope it is to me;

The book is not in all Scotland,

But I can read it before your eye.’

10.

10.⁴ In the MS. the line stands: ‘To learn the speeches of all strange lands.’

A joyed man his father was,

Even the worthy lord of Learne;

‘Thou shalt go into France, my child,

The speeches of all strange lands to learn.’

11.

But then bespake the child his mother—

The lady of Learne and then was she—

Says, ‘Who must be his well good guide,

When he goes into that strange country?’

12.

12.³ ‘hend,’ kindly, friendly.

And then bespake that bonny child

Untill his father tenderly,

Says, ‘Father, I’ll have the hend steward,

For he hath been true to you and me.’

13.

13.⁴ ‘mere’ = more.

The lady to counsel the steward did take,

And counted down a hundred pounds there,

Says, ‘Steward, be true to my son and my heir,

And I will give thee mickle mere.’

14.

‘If I be not true to my master,’ he said,

‘Christ himself be not true to me!

If I be not true to my lord and master,

An ill death that I may die!’

15.

The lord of Learne did apparel his child

With brooch, and ring, and many a thing;

The apparel he had his body upon,

They say was worth a squire’s living.

16.

The parting of the young lord of Learne

With his father, his mother, his fellows dear,

Would have made a man’s heart for to change,

If a Jew born that he were.

17.

The wind did serve, and they did sail

Over the sea into France land:

He used the child so hardly,

He would let him have never a penny to spend.

18.

And meat he would let the child have none,

Nor money to buy none truly;

The boy was hungry and thirsty both;

Alas! it was the more pity.

19.

He laid him down to drink the water

That was so low beneath the brim;

He was wont to have drunk both ale and wine,

Then was fain of the water so thin.

20.

And as he was drinking of the water

That ran so low beneath the brim,

So ready was the false steward

To drown the bonny boy therein.

21.

21.² ‘lend,’ grant.

‘Have mercy on me, worthy steward!

My life,’ he said, ‘lend it to me!

And all that I am heir upon,’

Says, ‘I will give unto thee.’

22.

22.³ ‘Even,’ MS.

Mercy to him the steward did take,

And pull’d the child out of the brim;

Ever alack! the more pity,

He took his clothes even from him.

23.

23.¹ etc. ‘Do thou off,’ take off.

23.³ ‘cordivant’ = cordwain, leather from Cordova, in Spain. See Brown Robin, 17.⁴, First Series, p. 161.

Says, ‘Do thou me off that velvet gown,

The crimson hose beneath thy knee,

And do me off thy cordivant shoon

Are buckled with the gold so free.

24.

‘Do thou me off thy satin doublet,

Thy shirtband wrought with glistering gold,

And do me off thy golden chain

About thy neck so many a fold.

25.

25.⁴ ‘Seam’: Child’s emendation, adopted from the broadside copies, for ‘swain’ in the MS.

‘Do thou me off thy velvet hat

With feather in that is so fine,

All unto thy silken shirt

That’s wrought with many a golden seam.’

26.

The child before him naked stood,

With skin as white as lily flower;

For his worthy lord’s beauty

He might have been a lady’s paramour.

27.

He put upon him a leather coat,

And breeches of the same beneath the knee,

And sent that bonny child him fro,

Service for to crave, truly.

28.

He pull’d then forth a naked sword

That hange[d] full low then by his side,

‘Turn thy name, thou villain,’ he said,

‘Or else this sword shall be thy guide.’

1.

Four and twenty nobles sits in the king’s ha’,

Bonnie Glenlogie is the flower among them a’.

2.

In came Lady Jean, skipping on the floor,

And she has chosen Glenlogie ’mong a’ that was there.

3.

She turned to his footman, and thus she did say:

‘Oh, what is his name? and where does he stay?’

4.

‘His name is Glenlogie, when he is from home;

He is of the gay Gordons, his name it is John.’

5.

‘Glenlogie, Glenlogie, an you will prove kind,

My love is laid on you; I am telling my mind.’

6.

He turned about lightly, as the Gordons does a’:

‘I thank you, Lady Jean, my loves is promised awa’.’

7.

She called on her maidens her bed for to make,

Her rings and her jewels all from her to take.

8.

In came Jeanie’s father, a wae man was he;

Says, ‘I’ll wed you to Drumfendrich, he has mair gold than he.’

9.

Her father’s own chaplain, being a man of great skill,

He wrote him a letter, and indited it well.

10.

The first lines he looked at, a light laugh laughed he;

But ere he read through it the tears blinded his e’e.

11.

Oh, pale and wan looked she when Glenlogie cam in.

But even rosy grew she when Glenlogie sat down.

12.

‘Turn round, Jeanie Melville, turn round to this side,

And I’ll be the bridegroom, and you’ll be the bride.’

13.

Oh, ’twas a merry wedding, and the portion down told,

Of bonnie Jeanie Melville, who was scarce sixteen years old.

1.

Der lived a king inta da aste,

Scowan Ürla grÜn

Der lived a lady in da wast.

Whar giorten han grÜn oarlac

2.

Dis king he has a huntin’ gaen,

He’s left his Lady Isabel alane.

3.

‘Oh I wis ye’d never gaen away,

For at your hame is dÖl an’ wae.

4.

‘For da king o’ Ferrie we his daert,

Has pierced your lady to da hert.’

*****

5.

And aifter dem da king has gaen,

But whan he cam it was a grey stane.

6.

Dan he took oot his pipes ta play,

Bit sair his hert wi’ dÖl an’ wae.

7.

7.¹ ‘noy,’ grief.

And first he played da notes o’ noy,

An’ dan he played da notes o’ joy.

8.

8.¹ ‘The good gabber reel’ is a sprightly dance-tune.

An’ dan he played da gÖd gabber reel,

Dat meicht ha’ made a sick hert hale.

*****

9.

9.^1,2 ‘wir,’ ‘wis,’ our, us.

‘Noo come ye in inta wir ha’,

An’ come ye in among wis a’.’

10.

Now he’s gaen in inta der ha’,

An’ he’s gaen in among dem a’.

11.

Dan he took out his pipes to play,

Bit sair his hert wi’ dÖl an’ wae.

12.

An’ first he played da notes o’ noy,

An’ dan he played da notes o’ joy.

13.

An’ dan he played da gÖd gabber reel,

Dat meicht ha’ made a sick hert hale.

14.

‘Noo tell to us what ye will hae:

What sall we gie you for your play?’

15.

‘What I will hae I will you tell,

And dat’s me Lady Isabel.’

16.

‘Yees tak your lady, an’ yees gaeng hame,

An’ yees be king ower a’ your ain.’

17.

He’s taen his lady, an’ he’s gaen hame,

An’ noo he’s king ower a’ his ain.

1.

1.² ‘lay’ = lea, meadow-land.

Yonder comes a courteous knight,

Lustely raking over the lay;

He was well ware of a bonny lasse,

As she came wand’ring over the way.

Then she sang downe a downe, hey downe derry   (bis)

2.

‘Jove you speed, fayre ladye,’ he said,

‘Among the leaves that be so greene;

If I were a king, and wore a crowne,

Full soone, fair lady, shouldst thou be a queen.

3.

‘Also Jove save you, faire lady,

Among the roses that be so red;

If I have not my will of you,

Full soone, faire lady, shall I be dead.’

4.

4.⁴ ‘divel’s mouth.’ Skeat has suggested that this metaphor is derived from the devil’s mouth always being wide open in painted windows.

Then he lookt east, then hee lookt west,

Hee lookt north, so did he south;

He could not finde a privy place,

For all lay in the divel’s mouth.

5.

‘If you will carry me, gentle sir,

A mayde unto my father’s hall,

Then you shall have your will of me,

Under purple and under paule.’

6.

He set her up upon a steed,

And him selfe upon another,

And all the day he rode her by,

As though they had been sister and brother.

7.

7.³ ‘yode,’ went.

7.⁴ ‘foure-ear’d.’ Child suggests, ‘as denoting a double ass?’

When she came to her father’s hall,

It was well walled round about;

She yode in at the wicket-gate,

And shut the foure-ear’d foole without.

8.

‘You had me,’ quoth she, ‘abroad in the field,

Among the corne, amidst the hay,

Where you might had your will of mee,

For, in good faith, sir, I never said nay.

9.

‘Ye had me also amid the field,

Among the rushes that were so browne,

Where you might had your will of me,

But you had not the face to lay me downe.’

10.

10.^1,2 See First Series, Introduction, p. xlix.

He pulled out his nut-browne sword,

And wipt the rust off with his sleeve,

And said, ‘Jove’s curse come to his heart,

That any woman would beleeve!’

11.

When you have your own true-love

A mile or twaine out of the towne,

Spare not for her gay clothing,

But lay her body flat on the ground.

1.

Hame came our goodman,

And hame came he,

And then he saw a saddle-horse,

Where nae horse should be.

2.

‘What’s this now, goodwife?

What’s this I see?

How came this horse here,

Without the leave o’ me?’

Recitative.

‘A horse?’ quo’ she.

‘Ay, a horse,’ quo’ he.

3.

3.² ‘mat,’ may.

3.³ ‘broad,’ brood: i.e. a sow that has a litter.

3.⁴ ‘minnie,’ mother.

‘Shame fa’ your cuckold face,

Ill mat ye see!

‘Tis naething but a broad sow,

My minnie sent to me.’

‘A broad sow?’ quo’ he.

‘Ay, a sow,’ quo’ shee.

4.

‘Far hae I ridden,

And farer hae I gane,

But a saddle on a sow’s back

I never saw nane.’

5.

Hame came our goodman,

And hame came he;

He spy’d a pair of jack-boots,

Where nae boots should be.

6.

‘What’s this now, goodwife?

What’s this I see?

How came these boots here,

Without the leave o’ me?’

‘Boots?’ quo’ she.

‘Ay, boots,’ quo’ he.

7.

‘Shame fa’ your cuckold face,

And ill mat ye see!

It’s but a pair of water-stoups,

My minnie sent to me.’

‘Water-stoups?’ quo’ he.

‘Ay, water-stoups,’ quo’ she.

8.

‘Far hae I ridden,

And farer hae I gane,

But siller spurs on water-stoups

I saw never nane.’

9.

Hame came our goodman,

And hame came he,

And he saw a sword,

Whare a sword should na be.

10.

‘What’s this now, goodwife?

What’s this I see?

How came this sword here,

Without the leave o’ me?’

‘A sword?’ quo’ she.

‘Ay, a sword,’ quo’ he.

11.

11.³ ‘porridge-spurtle,’ stick for stirring porridge.

‘Shame fa’ your cuckold face,

Ill mat ye see!

It’s but a porridge-spurtle,

My minnie sent to me.’

‘A spurtle?’ quo’ he.

‘Ay, a spurtle,’ quo’ she.

12.

‘Far hae I ridden,

And farer hae I gane,

But siller-handed spurtles

I saw never nane.’

13.

Hame came our goodman,

And hame came he;

There he spy’d a powder’d wig,

Where nae wig shoud be.

14.

‘What’s this now, goodwife?

What’s this I see?

How came this wig here,

Without the leave o’ me?’

‘A wig?’ quo’ she.

‘Ay, a wig,’ quo’ he.

15.

15.³ ‘clocken-hen,’ sitting hen.

‘Shame fa’ your cuckold face,

And ill mat you see!

’Tis naething but a clocken-hen,

My minnie sent to me.’

‘Clocken hen?’ quo’ he.

‘Ay, clocken hen,’ quo’ she.

16.

‘Far hae I ridden,

And farer hae I gane,

But powder on a clocken-hen

I saw never nane.’

17.

Hame came our goodman,

And hame came he,

And there he saw a muckle coat,

Where nae coat shoud be.

18.

‘What’s this now, goodwife?

What’s this I see?

How came this coat here,

Without the leave o’ me?’

‘A coat?’ quo’ she.

‘Ay, a coat,’ quo’ he.

19.

‘Shame fa’ your cuckold face,

Ill mat ye see!

It’s but a pair o’ blankets,

My minnie sent to me.’

‘Blankets?’ quo’ he.

‘Ay, blankets,’ quo’ she.

20.

‘Far hae I ridden,

And farer hae I gane,

But buttons upon blankets

I saw never nane.’

21.

21.¹ ‘Ben,’ indoors, or into the inner room.

Ben went our goodman,

And ben went he,

And there he spy’d a sturdy man,

Where nae man shoud be.

22.

‘What’s this now, goodwife?

What’s this I see?

How came this man here,

Without the leave o’ me?’

‘A man?’ quo’ she.

‘Ay, a man,’ quo’ he.

23.

‘Poor blind body,

And blinder mat ye be!

It’s a new milking-maid,

My mither sent to me.’

‘A maid?’ quo’ he.

‘Ay, a maid,’ quo’ she.

24.

‘Far hae I ridden,

And farer hae I gane,

But lang-bearded maidens

I saw never nane.’

1.

1.^2,4 The burden is of course repeated in each stanza.

O hearken and hear, and I will you tell

Sing, Faldidae, faldidadi

Of a friar that loved a fair maiden well.

Sing, Faldi dadi di di   (bis)

2.

The friar he came to this maiden’s bedside,

And asking for her maidenhead.

3.

‘O I would grant you your desire,

If ’t werena for fear o’ hell’s burning fire.’

4.

‘O’ hell’s burning fire ye need have no doubt;

Altho’ you were in, I could whistle you out.’

5.

‘O if I grant to you this thing,

Some money you unto me must bring.’

6.

He brought her the money, and did it down tell;

She had a white cloth spread over the well.

7.

Then the fair maid cried out that her master was come;

‘O,’ said the friar,’ then where shall I run?’

8.

‘O ye will go in behind yon screen,

And then by my master ye winna be seen.’

9.

Then in behind the screen she him sent,

But he fell into the well by accident.

10.

Then the friar cried out with a piteous moan,

‘O help! O help me! or else I am gone.’

11.

‘Ye said ye wad whistle me out o’ hell;

Now whistle your ain sel’ out o’ the well.’

12.

She helped him out and bade him be gone;

The friar he asked his money again.

13.

‘As for your money, there is no much matter

To make you pay more for jumbling our water.’

14.

Then all who hear it commend this fair maid

For the nimble trick to the friar she played.

15.

15.² ‘lugs,’ ears.

The friar he walked on the street,

And shaking his lugs like a well-washen sheep.

1.

There was a shepherd’s dochter

Kept sheep upon yon hill,

And by cam a gay braw gentleman,

And wad hae had his will.

2.

He took her by the milk-white hand,

And laid her on the ground,

And whan he got his will o’ her

He lift her up again.

3.

‘O syne ye’ve got your will o’ me,

Your will o’ me ye’ve taen,

‘Tis all I ask o’ you, kind sir,

Is to tell to me your name.’

4.

‘Sometimes they call me Jack,’ he said,

‘Sometimes they call me John,

But whan I am in the king’s court,

My name is Wilfu’ Will.’

5.

Than he loup on his milk-white steed,

And straught away he rade,

And she did kilt her petticoats,

And after him she gaed.

6.

He never was sae kind as say,

‘O lassie, will ye ride?’

Nor ever had she the courage to say,

‘O laddie, will ye bide!’

7.

Until they cam to a wan water,

Which was called Clyde,

And then he turned about his horse,

Said, ‘Lassie, will ye ride?’

8.

8.² ‘weel,’ advantage. So, in the comparative, ‘better,’ 9.².

‘I learned it in my father’s hall,

I learned it for my weel,

That whan I come to deep water,

I can swim as it were an eel.

9.

‘I learned it in my mother’s bower,

I learned it for my better,

That whan I come to broad water,

I can swim like any otter.’

10.

He plunged his steed into the ford,

And straught way thro’ he rade,

And she set in her lilly feet,

And thro’ the water wade.

11.

And whan she cam to the king’s court,

She tirled on the pin,

And wha sae ready’s the king himsel’

To let the fair maid in?

12.

‘What is your will wi’ me, fair maid?

What is your will wi’ me?’

‘There is a man into your court

This day has robbed me.’

13.

‘O has he taen your gold,’ he said,

‘Or has he taen your fee?

Or has he stown your maidenhead,

The flower of your bodye?’

14.

‘He has na taen my gold, kind sir,

Nor as little has he taen my fee,

But he has taen my maidenhead,

The flower of my bodye.’

15.

‘O gif he be a married man,

High hangit shall he be,

But gif he be a bachelor,

His body I’ll grant thee.’

16.

‘Sometimes they call him Jack,’ she said,

‘Sometimes they call him John,

But when he’s in the king’s court,

His name is Sweet William.’

17.

‘There’s not a William in a’ my court,

Never a one but three,

And one of them is the Queen’s brother;

I wad laugh gif it war he.’

18.

The king called on his merry men,

By thirty and by three;

Sweet Willie, wha used to be foremost man,

Was the hindmost a’ but three.

19.

19.² ‘twa-fald o’er a tree,’ bent double on a stick.

O he cam cripple, and he cam blind,

Cam twa-fald o’er a tree:

‘O be he cripple, or be he blind,

This very same man is he.’

20.

‘O whether will ye marry the bonny may,

Or hang on the gallows-tree?’

‘O I will rather marry the bonny may,

Afore that I do die.’

21.

But he took out a purse of gold,

Weel locked in a glove:

‘O tak ye that, my bonny may,

And seek anither love.’

22.

‘O I will hae none o’ your gold,’ she says,

‘Nor as little ony of your fee,

But I will hae your ain body,

The king has granted me.’

23.

O he took out a purse of gold;

A purse of gold and store;

‘O tak ye that, fair may,’ he said,

‘Frae me ye’ll ne’er get mair.’

24.

‘O haud your tongue, young man,’ she says,

‘And I pray you let me be;

For I will hae your ain body,

The king has granted me.’

25.

He mounted her on a bonny bay horse,

Himsel’ on the silver grey;

He drew his bonnet out o’er his een,

He whipt and rade away.

26.

26.⁴ ‘Sned,’ cut, lop.

O whan they cam to yon nettle bush,

The nettles they war spread:

‘O an my mither war but here,’ she says,

‘These nettles she wad sned.’

27.

‘O an I had drank the wan water

Whan I did drink the wine,

That e’er a shepherd’s dochter

Should hae been a love o’ mine!’

28.

‘O may be I’m a shepherd’s dochter,

And may be I am nane!

But you might hae ridden on your ways,

And hae let me alane.’

29.

29.² Two lines wanting in the MS.

O whan they cam unto yon mill

She heard the mill clap:

.....

.....

30.

30.³ ‘pock,’ bag.

30.⁴ ‘grey,’ i.e. grey meal, barley.

‘Clap on, clap on, thou bonny mill,

Weel may thou, I say,

For mony a time thou’s filled my pock

Wi’ baith oat-meal and grey.’

31.

‘O an I had drank the wan water

Whan I did drink the wine,

That e’er a shepherd’s dochter

Should hae been a love o’ mine!’

32.

‘O may be I’m a shepherd’s dochter,

And may be I am nane;

But you might hae ridden on your ways,

And hae let me alane.

33.

‘But yet I think a fitter match

Could scarcely gang thegither

Than the King of France’s auld dochter

And the Queen of Scotland’s brither.’

1.

It fell about the Martinmas time,

And a gay time it was then,

When our goodwife got puddings to make,

And she’s boil’d them in the pan.

2.

The wind sae cauld blew south and north,

And blew into the floor;

Quoth our goodman to our goodwife,

‘Gae out and bar the door.’

3.

3.¹ ‘hussyfskep’ = housewife’s skep, a straw basket for meal.

‘My hand is in my hussyfskep,

Goodman, as ye may see;

An it shoud nae be barr’d this hundred year,

It’s no be barr’d for me.’

4.

They made a paction ’tween them twa,

They made it firm and sure,

That the first word whae’er shoud speak,

Shoud rise and bar the door.

5.

Then by there came two gentlemen,

At twelve o’clock at night,

And they could neither see house nor hall,

Nor coal nor candle-light.

6.

6.⁴ ‘For,’ i.e. to prevent: cp. Child Waters, 28.⁶ (First Series, p. 41).

‘Now whether is this a rich man’s house,

Or whether is it a poor?’

But ne’er a word wad ane o’ them speak,

For barring of the door.

7.

And first they ate the white puddings,

And then they ate the black;

Tho’ muckle thought the goodwife to hersel’,

Yet ne’er a word she spake.

8.

Then said the one unto the other,

‘Here, man, tak ye my knife;

Do ye tak aff the auld man’s beard,

And I’ll kiss the goodwife.’

9.

9.³ ‘what ails ye,’ etc. = why not use the pudding-broth.

‘But there’s nae water in the house,

And what shall we do than?’

‘What ails ye at the pudding-broo,

That boils into the pan?’

10.

10.⁴ ‘sca’d,’ scald.

O up then started our goodman,

An angry man was he:

‘Will ye kiss my wife before my een,

And sca’d me wi’ pudding-bree?’

11.

Then up and started our goodwife,

Gi’ed three skips on the floor:

‘Goodman, you’ve spoken the foremost word,

Get up and bar the door.’