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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca0c683 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63858 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63858) diff --git a/old/63858-0.txt b/old/63858-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 12a93ec..0000000 --- a/old/63858-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13868 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Story-Telling Ballads, by Frances Jenkins -Olcott - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Story-Telling Ballads - Selected and Arranged for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and for the Boys' and Girls' Own Reading - - -Author: Frances Jenkins Olcott - - - -Release Date: November 23, 2020 [eBook #63858] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY-TELLING BALLADS*** - - -E-text prepared by MFR, Susan Carr, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file - which includes the original illustrations in colour. - See 63858-h.htm or 63858-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63858/63858-h/63858-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/63858/63858-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/storytellingball00olc - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - - - - - -STORY-TELLING BALLADS - - -[Illustration: THE LIFT GREW DARK, AND THE WIND BLEW LOUD, AND GURLY -GREW THE SEA (_page 5_)] - - -STORY-TELLING BALLADS - -Selected and Arranged for -Story-Telling and Reading Aloud -and for -the Boys’ and Girls’ Own Reading - -by - -FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT - - -[Illustration: Colophon] - - - - - - -Boston and New York -Houghton Mifflin Company -The Riverside Press Cambridge -1920 - -Copyright, 1920, by Frances Jenkins Olcott - -All Rights Reserved - -The Riverside Press -Cambridge . Massachusetts -U . S . A - - - - - TO MY SISTER - - VIRGINIA OLCOTT - - - - -THE FOREWORD - - -Here are 77 story-telling ballads and narrative poems, that will make -the heart beat faster and the pulse bound, of any boy or girl from -twelve to fifteen years of age. - -They offer a feast of good things--romances, hero-tales, Faërie -legends, and adventures of Knights and lovely Damsels. They sing -of proud and wicked folk, of gentle and loyal ones, of Laidley -Worms, Witches, Mermaids with golden combs, sad maidens, glad ones -and fearless lovers, moss-troopers, border-rievers, and Kings in -disguise. All their doings are related in the stirring, leaping, -joyous--or at times martial and mournful-ballad measure. - -The ancient ballads are here presented exactly as when in days of -old they were sung by minstrels and recited by gaffers and gammers. -No alterations are made in the texts of the ballad-collectors and -collators, except the changing of a few objectionable words. Two or -three of the less well-known ballads are done into modern spelling. -A number, not hitherto found in children’s collections, will be -delightfully new to young people. Some popular ballads, like “King -John and the Abbot of Canterbury,” and “The King and the Miller of -Mansfield,” are omitted because they are in _Story-Telling Poems_. - -A goodly number of famous modern ballads are included; and at the end -of the volume are 10 short narrative poems of “Pilgrimage and Souls -so Strong.” - -At the end of the book are a Glossary and Indexes of subjects, -authors, titles, and first lines. - - -TEACHERS, STORY-TELLERS, AND BALLADS - -Since great care has been taken to choose authoritative texts (see -Acknowledgments, page xv and Suggestions for Teachers, page 363), the -teacher will find this collection helpful when instructing classes in -early English literature or in ballad structure and measure. - -The Glossary for classroom use is placed at the back of the book, not -in footnotes, because children who are reading for enjoyment easily -learn new words from the context. - -The collection may be used for story-hours; or, as older boys and -girls prefer being read aloud to, in it may be found an abundance of -material for weekly poetry hours and for memorizing. - - -YOUTH IN THE BALLADS - -Ballads are the natural heritage of every boy and girl. Ballads are -tuned to the very pulse of Youth. They are red-blooded: joyous with -the freshness of Springtime, and robust with the early Summer of -Life. They appeal with peculiar delight to growing boys and girls, -satisfying, as do no other poems, their craving for emotional -expression in quick, rhythmic form. - -Ballads not only feed the romantic spirit of young people, but teach -them much homely wisdom. They are essentially democratic and human. -In them Kings and tinkers, Knights and shepherds, meet, talk, and -feast together like comrades. - -And because the vigour of Youth so animates the old ballads, young -folk read them eagerly, learn them almost without effort, and -recite them with gusto. The wild, free life in the good greenwood, -the chivalry, mystery, pathos, heroic deeds, and thrilling -experiences--in fact, Life itself running the whole gamut of human -emotions--enthrall the ever eager, questioning, shifting moods of -boys and girls. - - -HOW THE BALLADS GREW - -The human and universal in the ancient ballads, their eternal -youthful appeal, are rooted deepset in the daily life of the People. -Their very meter and airs are natural growths like the sheath of a -wildflower. For in those good old ballad-making days, minstrels, -the welcome guests of rich and poor, wandered from castle to cot -and inn, from eyrie-like retreats of Highland chiefs to fortified -border-towers of the Lowland or “North Contraye.” And as the -minstrels rested their harps or bagpipes on the earthen floors of -cottages, or while they sat feasting with nobles in baronial halls, -they heard peasants, working-folk, servitors, squires, ladies, and -returned Crusaders, telling of their adventures on land and sea, in -fights, battles, border-raids, in abductions of lovely maidens, in -combats with Saracens and with Laidley monsters, in meetings with -Faërie Knights and Elfin Queens all under the greenwood-shade. They -heard, also, tales of changelings and visits to Fairyland; stories of -Ghosts, Ghouls, and Witches; legends of the sea; and traditions of -national heroes. - -This material, so varied, so freshly spontaneous and imaginative, -the minstrels shaped into ballads, setting them to music now wild -and weird, now tragic and mournful, now sweet and debonair. So they -played and sang the ballads in cottage, bower, and hall, moulding -them to the delight and humours of their hearers, changing them to -suit time and place. Thus there grew up many versions of a single -ballad. - -The old folk, too, the gaffers and gammers by the fireside, learned -the ballads and recited or sung them to the children; who in their -turn, when they became old, told them to other children. Thus the -old songs were passed along by word of mouth from generation to -generation, from countryside to countryside, and even from one land -to another. - - -MAKING A COLLECTION FOR CHILDREN - -As was natural in those coarse old times, much that was unsuitable -for children was woven into the ballads; which to-day makes it a -difficult task to compile a representative juvenile collection. -For, as Spenser so aptly put it when writing of Irish bards, they -“seldom use to choose unto themselves the doings of good men for the -arguments of their poems, but whomsoever they find to be ... most -bold and lawless in his doings, most dangerous and desperate in all -parts of disobedience and rebellious disposition, him they set up and -glorify in their rhymes, him they praise to the people, and to young -men make an example to follow.” - -But Spenser’s criticism of the Irish bards is far too violent a -stricture on all Scottish and English ballad literature. For there -are Scottish and English ones, clean, merry, and nobly heroic; fine -and wholesome reading for our boys and girls. - -For Sir Walter Scott’s romantic tastes and his interest in Highland -and Border life were awakened and fired, when he was a boy, by -reading ballads. And Sir Philip Sydney wrote in his _Defence of -Poetry_, “Certainly, I must confess mine own barbarousness; I never -heard the old song of Percy and Douglas, that I found not my heart -moved more than with a trumpet; and yet it is sung but by some -blind crowder, with no rougher voice than rude style ... In Hungary -I have seen it the manner at all feasts, and all other such-like -meetings, to have songs of their ancestors’ valour, which that right -soldier-like nation think one of the chiefest kindlers of brave -courage.” - -But in making a collection of ballads for modern boys and girls, -it is not enough to choose those that will arouse only the higher -emotions. The interests of young people have to be consulted; while -nothing in extremely difficult Scottish dialect may be included, nor -in very old English. - -Then there are many versions of individual ballads to choose from. -Of “Hynd Horn” there are eight or more; of “Young Beichan and Susie -Pye,” fourteen or more; and of other ballads many versions. Next, -authoritative texts must be found, for some transcribers have made -mistakes or have altered the originals. So it may be seen what -a painstaking task it is to compile a collection of ballads for -educational purposes as well as for the boys’ and girls’ own reading. - -As for this volume, it covers so wide a range of fascinating -subjects that it will surely entrance any lad or lass who, opening -its pages for pleasure-reading, steps with Valentine and Ursine, -Robin Hood and Clorinda, and the brave outlaw Murray, into - - _The gude green-wood amang the lily flower_. - - - - -ACKNOWLEDGMENTS - - -My thanks are due Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company for the use of the -following modern ballads, “The Ballad of the Oysterman,” by Oliver -Wendell Holmes; “The Luck of Edenhall,” “The Three Kings,” and “The -Skeleton in Armour,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; “The Singing -Leaves,” by James Russell Lowell; “Barclay of Ury,” by John Greenleaf -Whittier. - -Among the authoritative texts from which I have taken ancient and -popular ballads, are Bell’s _Early Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry -of England_; Bishop Percy’s _Reliques of Ancient English Poetry_, -and his _Folio Manuscript, edited by Hales and Furnivall_; _A -Collection of Old Ballads_, London, 1723-25; Dixon’s _Ancient Poems, -Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England_ (Percy Society); -Jamieson’s _Popular Ballads and Songs_; Monk Lewis’s _Tales of -Wonder_; Motherwell’s _Minstrelsy, Ancient and Modern_; Nicholson’s -_Historical and Traditional Tales ... Connected with the South of -Scotland_; Ritson’s _Robin Hood_; Sir Walter Scott’s _Minstrelsy of -the Scottish Border_; Sheldon’s _Minstrelsy of the English Border_; -also the scholarly collection of _English and Scottish Popular -Ballads_, compiled and edited by Professor Francis James Child, for -the use of which my acknowledgments are due its publishers, Messrs. -Houghton Mifflin Company. - -The best texts available have been followed for the original ballads -by Sir Walter Raleigh, George Herbert, Hogg, Scott, Lover, Kingsley, -Tennyson, Campbell, and Keats. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -THE SALT BLUE SEAS - - THE STORMY WINDS DO BLOW 2 - - SIR PATRICK SPENS 3 - - THE DÆMON LOVER 7 - - THE MERMAID _Dr. John Leyden_ 10 - - -A-HARROWING O’ THE BORDER - - THE GALLOWAY RAID 20 - - THE MORE MODERN BALLAD OF CHEVY-CHASE 21 - - THE BALLAD OF MEIKLE-MOUTHED MEG 32 - - BELTED WILL _Frederick Sheldon_ 47 - - -BRAVE HEARTS AND PROUD - - EARL HALDAN’S DAUGHTER _Charles Kingsley_ 58 - - LADY CLARE _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ 59 - - PROUD LADY MARGARET 62 - - THE FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING-MEN 65 - - COCHRANE’S BONNY GRIZZY 70 - - THE GREETING OF KYNAST _Charles T. Brooks, from Rückert_ 74 - - -LAYS O’ FAËRIE - - THE FAIRY TEMPTER _Samuel Lover_ 80 - - ALICE BRAND _Sir Walter Scott_ 81 - - THE ERL-KING _Sir Walter Scott, from Goethe_ 86 - - THE FAIRY THORN _Samuel Ferguson_ 87 - - LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI _John Keats_ 91 - - THOMAS THE RHYMER 93 - - THE KELPIE OF CORRIEVRECKAN _Charles Mackay_ 97 - - KILMENY _The Ettrick Shepherd_ 101 - - -LAYS O’ WONDER - - THE WEE WEE MAN 114 - - THE EARL OF MAR’S DAUGHTER 115 - - KEMP OWYNE 122 - - THE LADY OF SHALOTT _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ 124 - - THE SINGING LEAVES _James Russell Lowell_ 131 - - THE LUCK OF EDENHALL _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from Uhland_ 135 - - MAY OF THE MORIL GLEN _The Ettrick Shepherd_ 138 - - THE LAIDLEY WORM O’ SPINDLESTON-HEUGHS 148 - - -MERRY GESTES - - A TRAGIC STORY _William Makepeace Thackeray, from Chamisso_ 158 - - LITTLE BILLEE _William Makepeace Thackeray_ 159 - - BRIAN O’LINN 160 - - DICKY OF BALLYMAN 162 - - THE BALLAD OF THE OYSTERMAN _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ 164 - - THE CINDER KING _Modern, anon._ 167 - - THE FROLICKSOME DUKE; OR, THE TINKER’S GOOD FORTUNE 169 - - KING JAMES THE FIRST AND THE TINKLER 173 - - KING ALFRED AND THE SHEPHERD 176 - - -SAD GESTES - - THE SANDS OF DEE _Charles Kingsley_ 190 - - FAIR ANNY OF ROCH-ROYAL 191 - - THE CRUEL SISTER 196 - - BARBARA ALLEN’S CRUELTY 201 - - SONG: EARL MARCH LOOKED ON HIS DYING CHILD _Thomas Campbell_ 203 - - LORD LOVEL 204 - - -PRETTY MAYS AND KNIGHTS SO BOLD - - THE NOBLE RIDDLE 208 - - BLANCHEFLOUR AND JELLYFLORICE 209 - - GLENARA _Thomas Campbell_ 212 - - THE BEGGAR-MAID _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ 214 - - LOCHINVAR _Sir Waller Scott_ 215 - - THE GAY GOSS-HAWK 218 - - BONNY BABY LIVINGSTON 224 - - HYND HORN 231 - - YOUNG BEICHAN AND SUSIE PYE 237 - - THE CHILD OF ELLE 244 - - -FOR HALLOWEEN AND MIDSUMMER EVE - - THE SPELL _John Gay_ 254 - - THE YOUNG TAMLANE 255 - - THE WIFE OF USHER’S WELL 263 - - SIR ROLAND 265 - - THE SKELETON IN ARMOUR _H. W. Longfellow_ 270 - - SWEET WILLIAM’S GHOST 276 - - THE EVE OF ST. JOHN _Sir Walter Scott_ 279 - - -ALL UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE - - THE BIRTH O’ ROBIN HOOD 290 - - ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN 291 - - ROBIN HOOD AND CLORINDA 297 - - SONG OF THE OUTLAW MURRAY 301 - - VALENTINE AND URSINE 314 - - -O’ PILGRIMAGE AND SOULS SO STRONG - - THE PILGRIM _John Bunyan_ 332 - - THE HEART OF THE BRUCE _William Edmondstoune Aytoun_ 333 - - BARCLAY OF URY _John Greenleaf Whittier_ 341 - - THE TOUCHSTONE _William Allingham_ 347 - - SIR GALAHAD _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ 348 - - PILGRIMAGE _Sir Walter Raleigh_ 351 - - THE ROYAL COURT _Modern, anon._ 353 - - TRUE VALOUR _John Bunyan_ 355 - - PEACE _George Herbert_ 356 - - THE THREE KINGS _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ 357 - - -APPENDIX - - SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS 363 - - PROGRAMME FOR A YEAR OF BALLAD-READING AND STUDY 366 - - GLOSSARY 373 - - SUBJECT INDEX 385 - - INDEX OF FIRST LINES 390 - - INDEX OF TITLES AND AUTHORS 392 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - -THE LIFT GREW DARK, AND THE WIND BLEW LOUD, AND GURLY - GREW THE SEA _Frontispiece_ - -“I FEAR NOT SIGN,” QUOTH THE GRISLY ELF, “THAT IS MADE - WITH BLOODY HANDS” 84 - -HE TURNED HIM ROUND; BUT STILL IT HUNG BEHIND HIM 158 - -BUT SPRINGING UP, HE RAISED HIS CLUB, AND AIMED A DREADFUL BLOW 318 - - - - -THE SALT BLUE SEAS - - - - -THE STORMY WINDS DO BLOW - - _One Friday morn when we set sail, - Not very far from land, - We there did espy a fair pretty maid - With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand, - With a comb and a glass in her hand._ - - _While the raging seas did roar, - And the stormy winds did blow, - While we jolly sailor-boys were up into the top, - And the land-lubbers lying down below, below, below, - And the land-lubbers lying down below._ - - _Then up starts the captain of our gallant ship, - And a brave young man was he: - “I’ve a wife and a child in fair Bristol town, - But a widow I fear she will be.”_ - - _Then up starts the mate of our gallant ship, - And a bold young man was he: - “Oh! I have a wife in fair Portsmouth town, - But a widow I fear she will be.”_ - - _Then up starts the cook of our gallant ship, - And a gruff old soul was he: - “Oh! I have a wife in fair Plymouth town, - But a widow I fear she will be.”_ - - _And then up spoke the little cabin-boy, - And a pretty little boy was he: - “Oh! I am more grievd for my daddy and my mammy, - Than you for your wives all three.”_ - - _Then three times round went our gallant ship, - And three times round went she: - For the want of a life-boat they all went down, - And she sank to the bottom of the sea._ - - _While the raging seas did roar, - And the stormy winds did blow, - While we jolly sailor-boys were up into the top, - And the land-lubbers lying down below, below, below, - And the land-lubbers lying down below._ - - -SIR PATRICK SPENS - - The king sits in Dunfermline town, - Drinking the blude-red wine; - “O whare will I get a skeely skipper, - To sail this new ship of mine?” - - O up and spake an eldern knight, - Sat at the king’s right knee,-- - “Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor, - That ever sailed the sea.”-- - - Our king has written a braid letter, - And seal’d it with his hand, - And sent it to sir Patrick Spens, - Was walking on the strand. - - “To Noroway, to Noroway, - To Noroway o’er the faem; - The king’s daughter of Noroway, - ’Tis thou maun bring her hame.” - - The first word that sir Patrick read, - Sae loud loud laughed he; - The neist word that sir Patrick read, - The tear blinded his ee. - - “O wha is this has done this deed, - And tauld the king o’ me, - To send us out, at this time of the year, - To sail upon the sea? - - “Be it wind, be it weet, be it hail, be it sleet, - Our ship must sail the faem; - The king’s daughter of Noroway, - ’Tis we must fetch her hame.”-- - - They hoysed their sails on Monenday morn, - Wi’ a’ the speed they may; - They hae landed in Noroway, - Upon a Wodensday. - - They hadna been a week, a week, - In Noroway, but twae, - When that the lords o’ Noroway - Began aloud to say,-- - - “Ye Scottishmen spend a’ our king’s goud, - And a’ our queenis fee.”-- - “Ye lie, ye lie, ye liars loud! - Fu’ loud I hear ye lie: - - “For I brought as much white monie, - As gane my men and me, - And I brought a half-fou o’ gude red goud, - Out o’er the sea wi’ me. - - “Make ready, make ready, my merrymen a’! - Our gude ship sails the morn,”-- - “Now, ever alake, my master dear, - I fear a deadly storm! - - “I saw the new moon, late yestreen, - Wi’ the auld moon in her arm; - And, if we gang to sea, master, - I fear we’ll come to harm.” - - They hadna sail’d a league, a league, - A league but barely three, - When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud, - And gurly grew the sea. - - The ankers brak, and the top-masts lap, - It was sic a deadly storm; - And the waves cam o’er the broken ship, - Till a’ her sides were torn. - - “O where will I get a gude sailor, - To take my helm in hand, - Till I get up to the tall top-mast; - To see if I can spy land?”-- - - “O here am I, a sailor gude, - To take the helm in hand, - Till you go up to the tall top-mast; - But I fear you’ll ne’er spy land.” - - He hadna gane a step, a step, - A step but barely ane, - When a bout flew out of our goodly ship, - And the salt sea it cam in. - - “Gae, fetch a web o’ the silken claith, - Another o’ the twine, - And wap them into our ship’s side, - And letna the sea come in.”-- - - They fetch’d a web o’ the silken claith, - Another o’ the twine, - And they wapp’d them round that gude ship’s side, - But still the sea cam in. - - O laith, laith, were our gude Scots lords - To weet their cork-heel’d shoon! - But lang or a’ the play was play’d, - They wat their hats aboon. - - And mony was the feather bed, - That flatter’d on the faem; - And mony was the gude lord’s son, - That never mair cam hame. - - The ladyes wrang their fingers white, - The maidens tore their hair, - A’ for the sake of their true loves; - For them they’ll see na mair. - - O lang, lang, may the ladyes sit, - Wi’ their fans into their hand, - Before they see sir Patrick Spens - Come sailing to the strand! - - And lang, lang, may the maidens sit, - With their goud kaims in their hair, - A’waiting for their ain dear loves! - For them they’ll see nae mair. - - O forty miles off Aberdeen, - ’Tis fifty fathoms deep, - And there lies gude sir Patrick Spens, - Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet. - - -THE DÆMON LOVER - - “O where have you been, my long, long love, - This long seven years and mair?” - “O I’m come to seek my former vows - Ye granted me before.” - - “O hold your tongue of your former vows, - For they will breed sad strife; - O hold your tongue of your former vows, - For I am become a wife.” - - He turned him right and round about, - And the tear blinded his ee: - “I wad never hae trodden on Irish ground, - If it had not been for thee. - - “I might hae had a king’s daughter, - Far, far beyond the sea; - I might have had a king’s daughter, - Had it not been for love o thee.” - - “If ye might have had a king’s daughter, - Yer sel ye had to blame; - Ye might have taken the king’s daughter, - For ye kend that I was nane. - - “If I was to leave my husband dear, - And my two babes also, - O what have you to take me to, - If with you I should go?” - - “I hae seven ships upon the sea-- - The eighth brought me to land-- - With four-and-twenty bold mariners, - And music on every hand.” - - She has taken up her two little babes, - Kissd them baith cheek and chin: - “O fair ye weel, my ain two babes, - For I’ll never see you again.” - - She set her foot upon the ship, - No mariners could she behold; - But the sails were o the taffetie, - And the masts o the beaten gold. - - She had not sailed a league, a league, - A league but barely three, - When dismal grew his countenance, - And drumlie grew his ee. - - They had not saild a league, a league, - A league but barely three, - Until she espied his cloven foot, - And she wept right bitterlie. - - “O hold your tongue of your weeping,” says he, - “Of your weeping now let me be; - I will shew you how the lilies grow - On the banks of Italy.” - - “O what hills are yon, yon pleasant hills, - That the sun shines sweetly on?” - “O yon are the hills of heaven,” he said, - “Where you will never win.” - - “O whaten a mountain is yon,” she said, - “All so dreary wi frost and snow?” - “O yon is the mountain of hell,” he cried, - “Where you and I will go.” - - He strack the tap-mast wi his hand, - The fore-mast wi his knee, - And he brake that gallant ship in twain, - And sank her in the sea. - - -THE MERMAID - - - PART I - - On Jura’s heath how sweetly swell - The murmurs of the mountain bee! - How softly mourns the writhed shell - Of Jura’s shore, its parent sea! - - But softer, floating o’er the deep, - The Mermaid’s sweet sea-soothing lay, - That charmed the dancing waves to sleep, - Before the bark of Colonsay. - - Aloft the purple pennons wave, - As parting gay from Crinan’s shore, - From Morven’s wars the seamen brave - Their gallant Chieftain homeward bore. - - In youth’s gay bloom, the brave Macphail - Still blamed the lingering bark’s delay; - For her he chid the flagging sail, - The lovely Maid of Colonsay. - - “And raise,” he cried, “the song of love, - The maiden sung with tearful smile, - When first, o’er Jura’s hills to rove, - We left afar the lonely isle!-- - - “‘When on this ring of ruby red - Shall die,’ she said, ‘the crimson hue, - Know that thy favourite fair is dead, - Or proves to thee and love untrue.’” - - Now, lightly poised, the rising oar - Disperses wide the foamy spray, - And, echoing far o’er Crinan’s shore, - Resounds the song of Colonsay. - - “Softly blow, thou western breeze, - Softly rustle through the sail! - Soothe to rest the furrowy seas, - Before my Love, sweet western gale!” - - Thus, all to soothe the Chieftain’s woe, - Far from the maid he loved so dear, - The song arose, so soft and slow, - He seemed her parting sigh to hear. - - The lonely deck he paces o’er, - Impatient for the rising day, - And still, from Crinan’s moonlight shore, - He turns his eyes to Colonsay. - - The moonbeams crisp the curling surge, - That streaks with foam the ocean green: - While forward still the rowers urge - Their course, a female form was seen. - - That Sea-maid’s form, of pearly light, - Was whiter than the downy spray, - And round her bosom, heaving bright, - Her glossy, yellow ringlets play. - - Borne on a foamy-crested wave, - She reached amain the bounding prow, - Then clasping fast the Chieftain brave, - She, plunging, sought the deep below. - - Ah! long beside thy feigned bier, - The monks the prayers of death shall say, - And long, for thee, the fruitless tear - Shall weep the Maid of Colonsay! - - - PART II - - But downwards, like a powerless corse; - The eddying waves the Chieftain bear; - He only heard the moaning hoarse - Of waters, murmuring in his ear. - - The murmurs sink, by slow degrees; - No more the surges round him rave; - Lulled by the music of the seas, - He lies within a coral cave. - - In dreamy mood reclines he long, - Nor dares his tranced eyes unclose, - Till, warbling wild, the Sea-maid’s song, - Far in the crystal cavern, rose; - - “This yellow sand, this sparry cave, - Shall bend thy soul to beauty’s sway; - Canst thou the maiden of the wave - Compare to her of Colonsay?” - - Roused by that voice, of silver sound, - From the paved floor he lightly sprung, - And, glancing wild his eyes around, - Where the fair Nymph her tresses wrung, - - No form he saw of mortal mould; - It shone like ocean’s snowy foam; - Her ringlets waved in living gold, - Her mirror crystal, pearl her comb. - - Her pearly comb the Siren took, - And careless bound her tresses wild; - Still o’er the mirror stole her look, - As on the wondering youth she smiled. - - Like music from the greenwood tree, - Again she raised the melting lay; - “Fair Warrior, wilt thou dwell with me, - And leave the Maid of Colonsay? - - “Fair is the crystal hall for me, - With rubies and with emeralds set, - And sweet the music of the sea - Shall sing, when we for love are met. - - “How sweet to dance, with gliding feet, - Along the level tide so green, - Responsive to the cadence sweet, - That breathes along the moonlight scene! - - “And soft the music of the main - Rings from the motley tortoise-shell, - While moonbeams, o’er the watery plain, - Seem trembling in its fitful swell. - - “Through the green meads beneath the sea, - Enamoured, we shall fondly stray-- - Then, gentle warrior, dwell with me, - And leave the Maid of Colonsay!”-- - - “Though bright thy locks of glistening gold, - Fair maiden of the foamy main! - Thy life-blood is the water cold, - While mine beats high in every vein. - - “Though all the splendour of the sea - Around thy faultless beauty shine, - That heart, that riots wild and free, - Can hold no sympathy with mine. - - “These sparkling eyes, so wild and gay, - They swim not in the light of love: - The beauteous Maid of Colonsay, - Her eyes are milder than the dove! - - “Even now, within the lonely isle, - Her eyes are dim with tears for me; - And canst thou think that siren smile - Can lure my soul to dwell with thee?” - - An oozy film her limbs o’erspread; - Unfolds in length her scaly train: - She tossed, in proud disdain, her head, - And lashed, with webbed fin, the main. - - “Dwell here, alone!” the Mermaid cried, - “And view far off the Sea-nymphs play; - Thy prison-wall, the azure tide, - Shall bar thy steps from Colonsay. - - “Whene’er, like Ocean’s scaly brood, - I cleave, with rapid fin, the wave, - Far from the daughter of the flood, - Conceal thee in this coral cave. - - “I feel my former soul return; - It kindles at thy cold disdain: - And has a mortal dared to spurn - A daughter of the foamy main!”-- - - She fled; around the crystal cave - The rolling waves resume their road - On the broad portal idly rave, - But enter not the Nymph’s abode. - - And many a weary night went by, - As in the lonely cave he lay; - And many a sun rolled through the sky, - And poured its beams on Colonsay; - - And oft, beneath the silver moon, - He heard afar the Mermaid sing, - And oft, to many a melting tune, - The shell-formed lyres of ocean ring: - - And when the moon went down the sky, - Still rose, in dreams, his native plain, - And oft he thought his love was by, - And charmed him with some tender strain; - - And heart-sick, oft he waked to weep, - When ceased that voice of silver sound, - And thought to plunge him in the deep, - That walled his crystal cavern round. - - But still the ring, of ruby red, - Retained its vivid crimson hue, - And each despairing accent fled, - To find his gentle Love so true. - - - PART III - - When seven long lonely months were gone, - The Mermaid to his cavern came, - No more misshapen from the zone, - But like a maid of mortal frame. - - “O give to me that ruby ring, - That on thy finger glances gay, - And thou shalt hear the Mermaid sing - The song, thou lovest, of Colonsay.”-- - - “This ruby ring, of crimson grain, - Shall on thy finger glitter gay, - If thou wilt bear me through the main, - Again to visit Colonsay.”-- - - “Except thou quit thy former Love, - Content to dwell for aye with me, - Thy scorn my finny frame might move, - To tear thy limbs amid the sea.”-- - - “Then bear me swift along the main, - The lonely isle again to see, - And, when I here return again, - I plight my faith to dwell with thee.”-- - - An oozy film her limbs o’erspread, - While slow unfolds her scaly train. - With gluey fangs her hands were clad, - She lashed, with webbed fin, the main. - - He grasps the Mermaid’s scaly sides, - As, with broad fin, she oars her way; - Beneath the silent moon she glides, - That sweetly sleeps on Colonsay. - - Proud swells her heart! she deems, at last, - To lure him with her silver tongue, - And, as the shelving rocks she past, - She raised her voice, and sweetly sung. - - In softer, sweeter strains she sung, - Slow gliding o’er the moonlight bay, - When light to land the Chieftain sprung, - To hail the Maid of Colonsay. - - Oh! sad the Mermaid’s gay notes fell, - And sadly sink remote at sea! - So sadly mourns the writhed shell - Of Jura’s shore, its parent sea. - - And ever as the year returns, - The charm-bound sailors know the day, - For sadly still the Mermaid mourns - The lovely Chief of Colonsay. - - _Dr. John Leyden. (Condensed)_ - - - - -A-HARROWING O’ THE BORDER - - - - -THE GALLOWAY RAID - - _The reavers of Eskdale were mounted for weir, - And Annandale moss-troopers grasped the spear; - And the blades that they bore in the sun glittered bright; - And breast-plate and helmet reflected the light._ - - _They spurred the fleet charger thro’ bog and thro’ brake; - To the yell of their slogan the echoes awake; - The Johnstones and Jardines cry, “Lads, we’ll away, - And we’ll foray the pastures of Fair Galloway!”_ - - _The men were determined--their steeds they were strong, - And eager for plunder they pranced along; - The clang of their weapons rung loud on the dale, - And their helmet-plumes waving aloft an the gale._ - - * * * * * - - _Beholdst thou the beacon-light gleaming afar, - On misty Glenbennan, the signal of war? - Bengairn and Caerlochan their blazes display, - And they warn the bold spearmen of Fair Galloway._ - - _But the damsels of Esk and of Annan may mourn, - And in vain may they look for their lovers’ return; - On the green dale of Dryburgh they rest in their grave, - And o’er them the hemlock and rank nettles wave._ - - _And few have escaped from the Galloway spear, - That followed the flying and glanced in their rear, - And the moss-troopers’ widows are ruing the day - Their husbands departed for Fair Galloway._ - - (_Condensed_) - - -THE MORE MODERN BALLAD OF CHEVY-CHASE - - - PART I - - God prosper long our noble King, - Our liffes and saftyes all! - A woefull hunting once there was - In Chevy-Chase befall. - - To drive the deere with hound and horne, - Erle Percy took the way; - The child may rue that is unborne - The hunting of that day! - - The stout Erle of Northumberland - A vow to God did make, - His pleasure in the Scottish woods - Three sommers days to take; - - The cheefest harts in Chevy-Chase - To kill and beare away. - These tydings to Erle Douglas came, - In Scottland where he lay, - - Who sent Erle Percy present word, - He wold prevent his sport, - The English Erle, not fearing that, - Did to the woods resort, - - With fifteen hundred bowmen bold, - All chosen men of might, - Who knew ffull well in time of neede - To ayme their shafts arright. - - The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran - To chase the fallow deere; - On Munday they began to hunt - Ere daylight did appeare; - - And long before high noone they had - A hundred fat buckes slaine. - Then having dined, the drovyers went - To rouze the deare againe; - - The bowmen mustered on the hills, - Well able to endure; - Theire backsids all with speciall care, - That day were guarded sure. - - The hounds ran swiftly through the woods - The nimble deere to take, - That with their cryes the hills and dales - An eccho shrill did make. - - Lord Percy to the quarry went - To view the tender deere; - Quoth he, “Erle Douglas promised once - This day to meete me heere; - - But if I thought he wold not come, - Noe longer wold I stay.” - With that, a brave younge gentlman - Thus to the Erle did say, - - “Loe, yonder doth Erle Douglas come, - His men in armour bright, - Full twenty hundred Scottish speres - All marching in our sight, - - “All men of pleasant Tivydale, - Fast by the river Tweede:” - “O ceaze your sportts!” Erle Percy said, - “And take your bowes with speede. - - “And now with me, my countrymen, - Your courage forth advance! - For there was never champion yett - In Scottland nor in France, - - “That ever did on horsbacke come, - But if my hap it were, - I durst encounter man for man, - With him to breake a spere.” - - Erle Douglas on his milke white steede, - Most like a Baron bold, - Rode formost of his company, - Whose armour shone like gold. - - “Shew me,” sayd hee, “whose men you bee, - That hunt soe boldly heere, - That without my consent doe chase - And kill my fallow deere.” - - The first man that did answer make - Was noble Percy hee, - Who sayd, “Wee list not to declare, - Nor shew whose men wee bee. - - “Yett wee will spend our deerest blood - Thy cheefest harts to slay.” - Then Douglas swore a solempne oathe, - And thus in rage did say; - - “Ere thus I will outbraved bee, - One of us tow shall dye! - I know thee well! an Erle thou art, - Lord Percy! Soe am I; - - “But trust me, Percye, pittye it were, - And great offence, to kill - Then any of these our guiltlesse men, - For they have done none ill; - - “Let thou and I the battell trye, - And set our men aside.” - “Accurst bee he!” Erle Percy sayd, - “By whome it is denyed.” - - Then stept a gallant Squire forth,-- - Witherington was his name,-- - Who said, “I wold not have it told - To Henery our King, for shame, - - “That ere my captaine fought on foote, - And I stand looking on: - You bee two Erles,” quoth Witherington, - “And I a Squier alone, - - “Ile doe the best that doe I may, - While I have power to stand! - While I have power to weeld my sword, - Ile fight with hart and hand!” - - Our English archers bend their bowes-- - Their harts were good and trew,-- - Att the first flight of arrowes sent, - Full foure score Scotts they slew. - - To drive the deere with hound and horne, - Douglas bade on the bent; - Two captaines moved with mickle might - Their speres to shivers went. - - They closed full fast on everye side, - Noe slacknes there was found, - But many a gallant gentleman - Lay gasping on the ground. - - O Christ! it was great greeve to see - How eche man chose his spere, - And how the blood out of their brests - Did gush like water cleare! - - At last these two stout Erles did meet - Like captaines of great might; - Like Lyons wood they layd on lode, - They made a cruell fight. - - They fought untill they both did sweat, - With swords of tempered steele, - Till blood a-downe their cheekes like raine - They trickling downe did feele. - - “O yeeld thee, Percye!” Douglas sayd, - And infaith I will thee bringe - Where thou shall high advanced bee - By James our Scottish King; - - “Thy ransome I will freely give, - And this report of thee, - Thou art the most couragious Knight - That ever I did see.” - - “Noe, Douglas!” quoth Erle Percy then, - “Thy profer I doe scorne; - I will not yeelde to any Scott - That ever yett was borne!” - - With that there came an arrow keene - Out of an English bow, - Who scorke Erle Douglas on the brest - A deepe and deadlye blow; - - Who never sayd more words then these, - “Fight on my merrymen all! - For why, my life is att an end, - Lord Percy sees my fall.” - - Then leaving liffe, Erle Percy tooke - The dead man by the hand; - And said, “Erle Douglas! for thy sake - Wold I had lost my land! - - “O Christ! my verry hart doth bleed - For sorrow for thy sake! - For sure, a more redoubted Knight, - Mischance cold never take!” - - - PART II - - A Knight amongst the Scotts there was, - Which saw Erle Douglas dye, - Who streight in hart did vow revenge - Upon the Lord Percye. - - Sir Hugh Mountgomerye was he called, - Who, with a spere full bright, - Well mounted on a gallant steed, - Ran feircly through the fight, - - And past the English archers all, - Without all dread or feare, - And through Erle Percyes body then - He thrust his hatfull spere, - - With such a vehement force and might, - That his body he did gore, - The staff ran through the other side - A large cloth yard and more. - - Thus did both those nobles dye, - Whose courage none cold staine, - An English archer then perceived - The noble Erle was slaine, - - He had a good bow in his hand - Made of a trusty tree; - An arrow of a cloth yard long - To the hard head haled hee, - - Against Sir Hugh Mountgomerye - His shaft full right he sett; - The grey goose winge that was there-on, - In his harts bloode was wett. - - This fight from breake of day did last - Till setting of the sun, - For when they rung the Evening bell - The battele scarse was done. - - With stout Erle Percy there was slaine - Sir John of Egerton, - Sir Robert Harcliffe and Sir William, - Sir James that bold barron; - - And with Sir George and Sir James, - Both Knights of good account; - And good Sir Raphe Rebbye there was slaine, - Whose prowesse did surmount. - - For Witherington needs must I wayle - As one in doleful dumpes, - For when his leggs were smitten of, - He fought upon his stumpes. - - And with Erle Douglas there was slaine - Sir Hugh Mountgomerye, - And Sir Charles Morrell that from feelde - One foote wold never flee; - - Sir Roger Hever of Harcliffe tow,-- - His sisters sonne was hee,-- - Sir David Lamb so well esteemed - But saved he cold not bee; - - And the Lord Maxwell in like case - With Douglas he did dye; - Of twenty hundred Scottish speeres, - Scarce fifty five did flye; - - Of fifteen hundred Englishmen - Went home but fifty three; - The rest in Chevy-Chase were slaine, - Under the greenwoode tree. - - Next day did many widdowes come - Their husbands to bewayle; - They washt their wounds in brinish teares, - But all wold not prevayle. - - Theyr bodyes bathed in purple blood, - They bore with them away, - They kist them dead a thousand times - Ere they were cladd in clay. - - The newes was brought to Eddenborrow - Where Scottland’s King did rayne, - That brave Erle Douglas soddainlye - Was with an arrow slaine. - - “O heavy newes!” King James can say, - “Scottland may wittenesse bee - I have not any captaine more - Of such account as hee!” - - Like tydings to King Henery came - Within as short a space, - That Percy of Northumberland - Was slaine in Chevy-Chase. - - “Now God be with him!” said our King, - “Sith it will noe better bee, - I trust I have within my realme - Five hundred as good as hee! - - “Yett shall not Scotts nor Scottland say - But I will vengeance take, - And be revenged on them all - For brave Erle Percyes sake.” - - This vow the King did well performe - After on Humble Downe; - In one day fifty Knights were slayne, - With Lords of great renowne, - - And of the rest of small account, - Did many hundreds dye: - Thus endeth the hunting in Chevy-Chase - Made by the Erle Percye. - - God save our King, and blesse this land - With plentye, joy, and peace; - And grant hencforth that foule debate - Twixt noble men may ceaze! - - ffins. - - -THE BALLAD OF MEIKLE-MOUTHED MEG - - - BOLD WILLIE SCOTT - - The moonbeam glints on tower and hill, - It’s hey! for the bonny moonlight! - “Go saddle my steed, I’ll ride betimes, - The English Border to-night.” - - “Take tent, good lad, the Warder’s men - Are riding over the land.” - “Tuts! six Scotts lads will keep two score - Of such feckless loons at a stand!” - - Oh! they were twenty stout and bold, - Mounted on active naigs; - Some armed wi’ guns and Jeddart staves, - Wi’ iron round their craigs. - - Young Scott o’ Harden, led them on - To the lands o’ Elibank; - “Good faith, I wat Sir Gideon - Will no his kindness thank.” - - He left his towers by Ettrick’s stream, - His minnie’s proverb scorning; - When Scotts set foot in the stirrup-ring, - The blood will flow ere morning. - - Sir Gideon and young Willie Scott - Were ever deadly foes; - Ere they shall clasp each other’s hand, - The Gowan shall grow on the Rose. - - - THE RAID - - They gained the lands o’ Elibank, - And gathered the gear together; - They counted tens, and came to scores, - And drove them out the heather. - - There was not a Murray on the lea, - Young Scott his heart was light; - “There’ll be a dry breakfast at Elibank, - At Oakwood, a meal to-night.” - - They got half way to Ettrick stream, - When they heard a sleuth-hound yell, - And Scott well kenned his mortal foe, - Pursued him o’er the fell. - - Sir Gideon was a doure fierce man, - A terror to a foe; - He had a wife and daughters three, - Well dowered they were I trow. - - He let young Harden steal his cows, - And, oh! his arm was slack; - But the grim old Knight was looking on - Wi’ fifty men at his back. - - “I have thee now like a thief in a mill,” - Sir Gideon o’ Elibank said; - He gave the word to loose the hounds; - And the hot pursuit he led. - - “Young Scott, yield quietly to me,” - Sir Gideon loudly cried, - “Or a thief’s death shall ye die, - If ye the onset bide. - - “Ye’ve driven off my cows and sheep, - And byre and fold are toom, - The corbies and ye shall be acquaint, - For what this night ye’ve done.” - - “Brag on! brag on! ye old greybeard! - While Scott o’ Harden stands, - No power on earth shall make him yield - To any o’ Murray’s bands. - - “So do your best, and do your worst, - Here’s a hand and sword to fight; - I trow a Scott ne’er turned his back - Whilst a Murray was in sight.” - - “Small mercy after what ye’ve stol’n, - I had designed for thee; - But, callant, after what ye’ve said, - I’ll prove your enemy.” - - “Thou old man, measure weapons then, - And I would have ye leave - Your well-faured daughters to the world, - For your loss must they grieve.” - - “Before sunrise,” quoth Gideon, - “You’ll speak less vauntingly; - Say what ye like of me, you dog, - But leave my bairnies be.” - - The strife went high and bloodily, - They grappled at the throat; - And many was the Elibank, - The reavers deadly smote. - - The guns banged off, the sleuth-hounds yelled, - The cattle rowted sore; - And many wights lay on the ground, - That up rose never more. - - The fray went hard wi’ Willie Scott, - His horse fell wi’ a bound, - And many Murrays wi’ their swords - Bore him unto the ground. - - - THE GALLOWS OR MARRIAGE - - Lady Murray came forth at noon, - To welcome her husband home; - And there she spied young Scott o’ Harden, - All bounden and his lone. - - They thrust the Scott in a darksome room, - And left him to his thought; - But neither bread nor yet red wine - Unto the youth they brought. - - “And what, Lord Gideon,” said his dame, - “Will ye do wi’ young Scott?” - “Do ye see yonder branch o’ the elm, - For that shall be his lot.” - - “O goodman,” quo’ his pitying dame, - “Ye could not do this thing; - For lifting a pickle o’ your nowt, - So brave a lad to hing!” - - “What mercy did ever a Scott o’ them - E’er show to me or mine? - The reaving Scotts shall surely weep, - The last of all their line.” - - She said, “But we have daughters three, - And they are no well-faured, - When ye’ve a husband to your hand, - To hang him would be hard.” - - “Sooth, goodwife, faith, but ye are right! - There’s wisdom in your say; - This birkie Scott shall have his choice, - To wed what one he may. - - “We’ll give him respite to the morn, - Nor hang him ’gainst all law; - To marry our daughter Meikle-Mouthed Meg, - Or choke with the death-thraw.” - - Quo’ she, “To marry our daughter Meg - More wiselike would it be, - Than kill the hope of an old, old House - And strap him to the tree.” - - Quo’ he, “If I were in his place, - I would refuse I ween, - And die a death upon the tree, - Than wed what I’d ne’er seen. - - “Go ye, and tell our daughter Meg, - That she’s be wived the morn; - And I will to this young gallant, - And see what he perform.” - - * * * * * - - She went unto her daughter Meg, - Who had a meikle mouth; - But her teeth were pearls, and her honey breath - Was like the wind from the South. - - The mother sat by her daughter’s side; - “Sweet Meg, come tell me this, - Wouldst thou the rather be a bride, - Then live in singleness? - - “Before I was your age, I trow, - I was in a bride her place.” - “Aye, mother,” quo’ Meg, and sighed full sore, - “But ye had a well-faured face. - - “But you shall see the Ettrick stream - Run thro’ the dells o’ Yarrow, - Before ye hear o’ an offer to me, - Or a man to be my marrow. - - “My face is foul, my heart is large, - A kinder none there is; - And must I pass away my days, - In sullen loneliness?” - - The mother told her of young Scott, - And waited her reply; - “O Mother, I’d rather marry him - Than ever he should die!” - - But the tears rose welling from their spring, - And filled her cushat eyes; - “But, Mother, how if when we’re wed, - He should my heart despise?” - - “Oh, marriage,” quo’ the wily dame, - “Is not that hard to snoove, - If ye should marry Willie Scott, - Ye’ll be like hand and glove.” - - * * * * * - - Sir Gideon entered young Scott’s dungeon; - “Thy death is at my hand, - Ye came as a thief in the dead o’ night, - And stole my cows from my land. - - “But I’ll give ye a chance for life, - For all ye have said of me, - Either to marry my daughter Meg, - Or hang upon yonder tree. - - “And the boldest Scott on the Border March, - Shall never take ye down, - Until your skeleton is seen - And ye drop away bone by bone.” - - “And ye would spare my life,” he said, - “For all ye come so gleg, - If I would stoop and give my hand - To your bonny daughter Meg? - - “Ye are the Murray of Elibank, - I Scott of Oakwood Tower, - I would not marry your daughter Meg, - Tho’ a kingdom were her dower; - - “But little I fear to meet my death, - As I do to tell you this; - An ye had fallen in my hands, - Such were your fate, I wiss. - - “Ye think that your winsome daughter Meg,” - Oh! he spoke so scornfully,-- - “Will get a husband at the last, - But, faith, my lad, ye lie, - - “I rather choose upon the gallows - To render up my breath; - I trow there will be Scots enough - Left to revenge my death.” - - “There is my thumb, thou young braggart,” - Sir Gideon chafing cried, - “I wouldn’t hinder ye your choice - For death shall be your bride. - - “And let the Scots o’ a’ the Border - Revenge your death that dare.” - He left young Scott unto himself, - And quit his dungeon stair. - - - YOUNG WILLIE’S MESSENGER - - It was about the midnight time, - When his dungeon door ga’ed back; - And the sentinel who guarded it - Let in a woman in black. - - “What want ye wi’ me, fair Maiden?” - The Scott o’ Harden said. - “I come to ask if thy dying wish - Can be by me obeyed? - - “I am a lassie o’ the house, - And wait on Sir Gideon’s dame; - And tho’ ye have refused poor Meg, - Her prayers will be the same.” - - “Why has Dame Murray sent thee here?”-- - “She has a woman’s heart. - Ye have a mother and sisters twain, - From whom full soon ye part. - - “If ye have anything to say, - Ye would have carried there, - I swear by all that’s good on earth, - To be your messenger.” - - “Maiden,” quo’ he, and his voice was low, - “Of my mother do not speak; - I wish to die as my father’s son, - And yet her heart I break.” - - “It cannot be,” then said the girl, - “Ye have rejected Meg, - Without the looking on her face? - I’m sure your life she’d beg.” - - “I have not seen, but I have heard - Her face described to me; - And, by my faith, between the two, - I’ll chose the gallows-tree.” - - The tears fell from that poor girl’s eyes, - In anger or in spleen?-- - And ever and anon she sighed, - And deep sobs came between. - - “Belike,” quo’ she, “they’ve painted her - Far worse than she may look; - Many a man has an ugly wife, - That the gallows could not brook.” - - “I have no wish to see her face, - Far less to marry her; - But ye seem o’ a kindly heart, - And aiblins are as fair. - - “So let me see your face, my joy, - And by your countenance, - I’ll see if I dare trust you with - A letter for my chance?” - - She threw the veil from off her face, - “I’m no well faured I know; - But kernels lie inside hard shells, - And gold in the earth below.” - - “So sweet and sensible ye speak, - Ye almost make me wish, - Meikle-Mouthed Meg was like to you, - So kind, so young, so lish.” - - He held the light within the cruse - Close to the maiden’s face, - Wi’ loof o’er e’en, he earnestly - Perused each simple grace. - - He saw her face was fair and round, - Her lips like a large rose-leaf; - And her snow-white teeth so even showed, - Like ivory from their sheath. - - There stood a tear in her dove-blue eye, - Her eye so mild and meek, - A large tear slowly left the lid, - And trickled down her cheek. - - “Ye have the look that never lied, - And tho’ no fine your face, - Ye’ve pleasing sense and kindliness - Wi’ every modest grace. - - “So bring to me the writing ink, - The paper and pen so fine; - And tho’ ye abide wi’ my enemy, - Ye’ll take my mother a line.” - - She rolled it up so carefully, - The letter he writ so fair; - She had no silk, but she tied it with - A lock o’ her golden hair. - - - THE GALLOWS-TREE - - It was by cock-crowing the morn, - When Meg wi’ crippled feet, - Like one that had a long way walked - Came in, her sire to greet. - - “Grant me another day,” she cried, - “For young Willie Scott his life; - And throw not by the chance, your Meg - Has to become a wife.” - - Sir Gideon rubbed his hands in glee, - “I grant it for your sake; - But if he then refuse your hand, - He shall his own way take.” - - Much wondered the Laird o’ Oakwood Tower, - As fell the evening gloom, - They did not hang him in the morn, - As he had heard his doom. - - He heard the sentry shoot the bolt, - And a kind o’ murmuring; - And then his mother and sisters two - Wi’ loud outcries break in. - - And, “O my Son!” the mother cried, - “Is there no other way, - To save thee from a cruel death, - At the hands o’ a fierce Murray? - - “Marry his daughter, Willie dear, - And save thy mother’s life; - Tho’ she be ugly--what of that? - She’ll make a frugal wife.” - - “Mother, I will not take his terms. - Who brought ye here?” he said. - “Who, but your messenger so good, - That kind and sonsy maid.” - - They passed the time in grief and woe, - Throughout the dead of night; - Nor ever they ceased to weep wi’ him, - Until the morning’s light. - - The loud horn blew out o’er the lea, - Sir Gideon stood him before; - “What is thy choice, young man?” he cried, - “Or ere this deed be o’er.” - - “The gallows still before the wife,” - Young Harden stoutly said. - “And wi’ the hemp around my throat, - I’ll spit on the ground ye tread.” - - They led him forth to the gallows-tree; - When he saw that maiden there, - Who at her risk, unto his mother - Carried his last letter; - - The thoughts o’ the gallows could not stir - The heart o’ that dauntless Chief, - But the weeping look of that young girl, - It pierced his soul wi’ grief. - - And while the tear hung in her eye, - He took her lily hand; - And said, “Thy heart is far too meek, - For such a ruffian band. - - “Hear me, Murray, speak my mind, - I care not for thy word, - I’d rather marry this poor maiden, - If should my life be spared, - - “Then ever I’d wed thy daughter Meg.”-- - Sir Gideon clapped his hand; - “A bargain! I take thee at thy word, - Young Scott where dost thou stand.” - - * * * * * - - They buckled them in holy bonds, - The priest he prayed the while; - And when the marriage knot was tied, - Sir Gideon blithe did smile. - - His mother fell upon his neck, - “God bless my bairn, he’s free! - And bless the bonny lassie yet, - Who brought the word to me!” - - “I give thee a father’s blessing, sir,” - The Murray blithely cried; - “For what?”--The lassie modest said, - “Meikle-Mouthed Meg’s your bride.” - - Oh! then sore shame fell on the Scott, - And tears came in his eyes; - “And is my bride the scorned Meg, - That I did so despise? - - “Let no man hate what he’s not seen, - The shame on me doth lay:-- - I rose this morning for my death, - And it ends in my bridal day!” - - (_Englished. Condensed_) - - -BELTED WILL - - - THE ROBBER BARON - - The Baron of Thirlwall came from the wars, - Laden with treasure bold; - Among the which a fair table, - All of the beaten gold. - - And men will speak of the Baron’s wealth, - Whatever he may say, - And how a grizzly Dwarf does guard - His treasure night and day. - - Many a Border freebooter - Eyed Thirlwall’s good Castle, - Thinking to win the bags of gold, - And eke the fair table. - - But the Baron hath retainers bold, - And swatchers many ane, - And the Castle walls are high to win, - Howe’er they fidge and fain. - - The boldest one o’ a’ his men, - Was Jockey of the Sheugh; - The Baron loved him like a brother, - And that was fair enoo. - - Jock could wrestle, run, or leap, - Wi’ ever a living man; - Never a wight in Cumbernauld - Could beat him at the span. - - But Thirlwall’s Baron heeded not - The word o’ Belted Will, - Who dwells within the dark Naworth, - The Border March to still; - - He can rule all the Border round, - Wi’ a peeled willow-wand; - But Thirlwall’s Baron gecks at him, - And all the laws o’ the land. - - So fast come tidings of ravin wrong - To Belted Willy’s ear; - Quo’ he, “By my belt, I’ll trap this man, - If I catch him in effeir. - - “But he is like a wily fox, - That taketh to his hole, - An I can catch him on the turn, - I’ll smoke him from his bole. - - “He reaves and harrows every one, - Tho’ he has goups o’ gold; - I’ll lay a trap for him bedeen, - By which he shall be sold.” - - Thirlwall’s Baron heard his speech, - Wi’ scorn almost he burst; - “His anger it is like a haggis, - That’s hottest at the first.” - - Sore smiled the wily Belted Will, - But in so dark a way; - Better that smile were wanting there, - Than on his lip to lay. - - - THE TRAP O’ BELTED WILL - - Jock o’ the Sheugh tirled at the string, - Of the Baron of Thirlwall’s yett; - “Up, up, and rise, my noble Lord, - Some plunder for to get. - - “There are a swatch o’ Englishers - Coming from Carlysle town, - Well laden wi’ the yellow gold, - For Annan are they boun’.” - - “Go, take a dozen o’ my men, - And brattle o’er the lea, - Lay wait, and watch until they pass - The Bowness Witches’ Tree. - - “A dozen o’ ye well may lick - Three score o’ English tikes, - Take all they have, and leave them so - To tell o’ this who likes.” - - Then Jock banged o’er the broomy knoll, - And reached the Witches’ Tree, - And wi’ his dozen freebooters, - Lay down on their bellie. - - There came on twenty Englishers, - Wi’ cloaks and saddlebags; - There came on twenty travellers, - Mounted on goodly nags. - - Came on those twenty travellers, - With long cloaks flowing down, - Came on these twenty travellers, - All thro’ the yellow broom. - - Then started up Jock and his men - Wi’ such an awful yell, - Ye might have heard it at the top - Of Skiddaw or Criffell. - - “Come off your nags, ye sorning crew, - Of Southron pock-puddings, - Or ye shall have the good cold steel, - So give us all your things!” - - “We’ll give ye that,” said one o’ them, - “Ye’ll no forget, I wiss, - This many a day, good Jock o’ the Sheugh, - And that my billie’s this!” - - They threw the cloaks from off their hides, - And back and breastplate shone; - They grippit their swords, the first blow struck - Was echoed with a groan. - - Good faith! but Jock had found his match, - For the Southrons hacked about; - The Thirlwall boys were fain to fight, - But soon put to the route. - - Of twelve o’ Jock’s good freebooters, - But three fled o’er the lea, - The other nine lay still enough - Beside the Witches’ Tree. - - Poor Jock is down upon his back, - Wi’ a fair clour on the head; - His billies all are stiffening, - And three o’ them are fled. - - Out spoke the twenty travellers, - “Why, Jock, how’s this of a’, - Ye bid us to a meal, good faith, - And then ye run awa’?” - - Quo’ Jock, as they bound fast his arms, - And raised him from the lea, - “If I had kenned ye were Belted Will’s men, - The Devil might stopped ye for me!” - - - THE GRIZZLY DWARF - - The Baron o’ Thirlwall looked abroad, - From out his strong Castle, - And he saw three men come posting on, - Out o’er the fern and fell. - - “I wad,” said he, “they run a race, - A thousand merks I lay - Upon the wight in the red jerkin, - He wins the race this day.” - - The three men burst in on his room, - “My Lord,” then each one said, - “Jock o’ the Sheugh is wounded fair, - And nine good fellows dead.” - - The dark spot flew to the Baron’s cheek, - “Ye cowards, one and all! - Go, join your bloody billies then, - Whatever may befall!” - - He struck each man the neck intil, - And they fell on the floor; - “To fly without a single blow, - Shows valour to be poor! - - “If Belted Will should harm a hair - O’ Jock o’ the Sheugh his head, - I’ll put the Border in such a blaze, - Shall make him flee with dread. - - “If Jock o’ the Sheugh hangs for this play, - The whole of the March shall weep, - No man shall waken in the morn, - That goes alive to sleep.” - - They brought these words to Belted Will - As at racket-ball he played; - But the only answer he let fall, - “We’ll soon see that,” he said. - - * * * * * - - By Brampton’s town there stands an oak, - Upon a hill so high; - And Jock was broughten there betimes - Upon the tree to die. - - They strapped him to the highest branch - Of all that goodly tree; - And there the righteous chaplain prayed - For Jock’s soul solemnlie, - - Thirlwall’s Baron saw the sight, - And swore revenge to have; - For better part o’ a summer’s day - He nothing did but rave. - - He sent a messenger so bold - To Will, who cried in scorn, - “Better he looks unto his nest, - I’ll burn it ere the morn!” - - The Baron fled to his Castle, - And guarded it so grim, - “The fiend take Belted Will,” he cried, - “’Tis word and blow wi’ him.” - - But scarcely had the midnight fell, - When spite o’ a’ his care, - Belted Will his Castle stormed, - For a’ he fought so fair. - - A tar barrel and reeking peat, - They laid unto his nest, - Threw open gates and wide windows, - And the night wind did the rest. - - The Baron fled from room to room, - By the flames of his own hall, - “He’s gi’en me light to go to bed, - Whatever may befall.” - - He rushed into his inner room, - Where his golden table lay; - The Devil in likeness o’ a Dwarf - Kept watch there night and day. - - Belted Will pursued him hard, - Amid the flame and stour, - For he cut the skirt from the Baron’s cloak, - As he whisked through the door. - - “Save me, now, thou gruesome Elf, - And my soul and body’s thine!” - The Dwarf he jabbered hideously, - But never made a sign. - - Belted Will called for a ram, - To bash the doorway down; - The red flames thro’ the keyhole flashed, - And filled wi’ reek the room. - - “My soul and body,” the Baron said, - Abjuring Christ His sign; - The Devil he grippit him in his arms, - “Now, Baron, art thou mine.” - - The door ga’ed splintering from the posts, - In rushed the enemy; - But Baron, Dwarf, and gold table, - I wat they could ne’er see. - - And legends say the ugsome Dwarf - Threw all into a well, - And by the glamour o’ his art - Cast over all a spell; - - Which never may be rendered vain - But by a Widow’s Son; - And he shall find the gold table, - When years away have run. - - _Frederick Sheldon. (Condensed)_ - - - - -BRAVE HEARTS AND PROUD - - - - -EARL HALDAN’S DAUGHTER - - A.D. 1400 - - _It was Earl Haldan’s daughter, - She looked across the sea; - She looked across the water, - And long and loud laughed she: - “The locks of six Princesses - Must be my marriage-fee, - So hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat! - Who comes a-wooing me!”_ - - _It was Earl Haldan’s daughter, - She walked along the sand; - When she was aware of a Knight so fair, - Come sailing to the land. - His sails were all of velvet, - His mast of beaten gold, - And “hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat, - Who saileth here so bold?”_ - - _“The locks of five Princesses - I won beyond the sea; - I shore their golden tresses, - To fringe a cloak for thee. - One handful yet is wanting, - But one of all the tale; - So hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat! - Furl up thy velvet sail!”_ - - _He leapt into the water, - That rover young and bold; - He gript Earl Haldan’s daughter, - He shore her locks of gold; - “Go weep, go weep, proud Maiden, - The tale is full to-day. - Now hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat! - Sail Westward ho, and away!”_ - - _Charles Kingsley_ - - -LADY CLARE - - It was the time when lilies blow, - And clouds are highest up in air, - Lord Ronald brought a lily-white doe - To give his cousin, Lady Clare. - - I trow they did not part in scorn; - Lovers long-betrothed were they; - They two will wed the morrow morn-- - God’s blessing on the day! - - “He does not love me for my birth, - Nor for my lands so broad and fair; - He loves me for my own true worth, - And that is well,” said Lady Clare. - - In there came old Alice the nurse, - Said, “Who was this that went from thee?” - “It was my cousin,” said Lady Clare; - “To-morrow he weds with me.” - - “O God be thanked!” said Alice the nurse, - “That all comes round so just and fair! - Lord Ronald is heir of all your lands, - And you are _not_ the Lady Clare.” - - “Are ye out of your mind, my Nurse, my Nurse,” - Said Lady Clare, “that ye speak so wild?” - “As God’s above,” said Alice the nurse, - “I speak the truth: you are my child. - - “The old Earl’s daughter died at my breast; - I speak the truth, as I live by bread! - I buried her like my own sweet child, - And put my child in her stead.” - - “Falsely, falsely have ye done, - O Mother,” she said, “if this be true, - To keep the best man under the sun - So many years from his due.” - - “Nay now, my Child,” said Alice the nurse, - “But keep the secret for your life, - And all you have will be Lord Ronald’s - When you are man and wife.” - - “If I’m a beggar born,” she said, - “I will speak out, for I dare not lie. - Pull off, pull off, the brooch of gold, - And fling the diamond necklace by.” - - “Nay now, my Child,” said Alice the nurse, - “But keep the secret all ye can.” - She said, “Not so; but I will know - If there be any faith in man.” - - “Nay now, what faith?” said Alice the nurse; - “The man will cleave unto his right.” - “And he shall have it,” the lady replied, - “Tho’ I should die to-night.” - - “Yet give one kiss to your mother dear! - Alas, my Child, I sinned for thee!” - “O Mother, Mother, Mother,” she said, - “So strange it seems to me. - - “Yet here’s a kiss for my mother dear, - My mother dear, if this be so, - And lay your hand upon my head, - And bless me, Mother, ere I go.” - - She clad herself in a russet gown, - She was no longer Lady Clare; - She went by dale, and she went by down, - With a single rose in her hair. - - The lily-white doe Lord Ronald had brought - Leapt up from where she lay, - Dropt her head in the maiden’s hand, - And followed her all the way. - - Down stept Lord Ronald from his tower: - “O Lady Clare, you shame your worth! - Why come you drest like a village maid, - That are the flower of the earth?” - - “If I come drest like a village maid, - I am but as my fortunes are; - I am a beggar born,” she said, - “And not the Lady Clare.” - - “Play me no tricks,” said Lord Ronald, - “For I am yours in word and in deed. - Play me no tricks,” said Lord Ronald, - “Your riddle is hard to read.” - - Oh, and proudly stood she up! - Her heart within her did not fail; - She looked into Lord Ronald’s eyes, - And told him all her nurse’s tale. - - He laughed a laugh of merry scorn; - He turned, and kissed her where she stood; - “If you are not the heiress born, - And I,” said he, “the next in blood,-- - - “If you are not the heiress born, - And I,” said he, “the lawful heir, - We two will wed to-morrow morn, - And you shall still be Lady Clare.” - - _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ - - -PROUD LADY MARGARET - - Fair Margret was a young ladye, - An come of high degree; - Fair Margret was a young ladye, - An proud as proud could be. - - Fair Margret was a rich ladye, - The king’s cousin was she; - Fair Margaret was a rich ladye, - An vain as vain could be. - - She war’d her wealth on the gay cleedin - That comes frae yont the sea, - She spent her time frae morning till night - Adorning her fair bodye. - - Ae night she sate in her stately ha, - Kaimin her yellow hair, - When in there cum like a gentle knight, - An a white scarf he did wear. - - “O what’s your will wi me, sir knight, - O what’s your will wi me? - You’re the likest to my ae brother - That ever I did see. - - “You’re the likest to my ae brother - That ever I hae seen, - But he’s buried in Dunfermline kirk, - A month an mair bygane.” - - “I’m the likest to your ae brother - That ever ye did see, - But I canna get rest into my grave, - A’ for the pride of thee. - - “Leave pride, Margret, leave pride, Margret, - Leave pride an vanity; - Ere ye see the sights that I hae seen, - Sair altered ye maun be. - - “O ye come in at the kirk-door - Wi the gowd plaits in your hair; - But wud ye see what I hae seen, - Ye maun them a’ forbear. - - “O ye come in at the kirk-door - Wi the gowd prins i your sleeve; - But wad ye see what I hae seen, - Ye maun gie them a’ their leave. - - “Leave pride, Margret, leave pride, Margret, - Leave pride an vanity; - Ere ye see the sights that I hae seen, - Sair altered ye maun be.” - - He got her in her stately ha, - Kaimin her yellow hair, - He left her on her sick sick bed, - Sheding the saut saut tear. - - -THE FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING-MEN - - - PART I - - You beautious ladies, great and small, - I write unto you one and all, - Whereby that you may understand - What I have suffered in this land. - - I was by birth a lady fair, - My father’s chief and onely heir, - But when my good old father dy’d, - Then was I made a young knight’s bride. - - And then my love built me a bower, - Bedeckt with many a fragrant flower; - A braver bower you never did see - Then my true-love did build for me. - - But there came thieves late in the night, - They rob’d my bower, and slew my knight, - And after that my knight was slain, - I could no longer there remain. - - My servants all from me did flye, - In the midst of my extremity, - And left me by my self alone, - With a heart more cold then any stone. - - Yet, though my heart was full of care, - Heaven would not suffer me to despair; - Wherefore in hast I chang’d my name - From Fair Elise to Sweet William. - - And therewithal I cut my hair, - And drest my self in man’s attire, - My doublet, hose, and bever-hat, - And a golden band about my neck. - - With a silver rapier by my side, - So like a gallant I did ride; - The thing that I delighted on, - Was for to be a serving-man. - - Thus in my sumptuous man’s array - I bravely rode along the way; - And at the last it chanced so - That I unto the king’s court did go. - - Then to the king I bowed full low, - My love and duty for to show, - And so much favour I did crave - That I a serving-man’s place might have. - - “Stand up, brave youth,” the king replyd, - “Thy service shall not be denyd; - But tell me first what thou canst do; - Thou shalt be fitted thereunto. - - “Wilt thou be usher of my hall, - To wait upon my nobles all? - Or wilt thou be taster of my wine, - To wait on me when I shall dine? - - “Or wilt thou be my chamberlain, - To make my bed both soft and fine? - Or wilt thou be one of my guard? - And I will give thee thy reward.” - - Sweet William, with a smiling face, - Said to the king, “If’t please your grace - To show such favour unto me, - Your chamberlain I fain would be.” - - The king then did the nobles call, - To ask the counsel of them all, - Who gave consent Sweet William he - The king’s own chamberlain should be. - - - PART II - - Now mark what strange things came to pass: - As the king one day a hunting was, - With all his lords and noble train, - Sweet William did at home remain. - - Sweet William had no company then - With him at home but an old man; - And when he saw the coast was clear, - He took a lute which he had there. - - Upon the lute Sweet William plaid, - And to the same he sung and said, - With a pleasant and most noble voice, - Which made the old man to rejoyce: - - _My father was as brave a lord - As ever Europe did afford; - My mother was a lady bright, - My husband was a valiant knight._ - - _And I my self a lady gay, - Bedeckt with gorgeous rich array; - The bravest lady in the land - Had not more pleasures to command._ - - _I had my musick every day, - Harmonious lessons for to play; - I had my virgins fair and free, - Continually to wait on me._ - - _But now, alas! my husband’s dead, - And all my friends are from me fled; - My former joys are past and gone, - For now I am a serving-man._ - - At last the king from hunting came, - And presently upon the same - He called for the good old man, - And thus to speak the king began. - - “What news, what news, old man?” quod he; - “What news hast thou to tell to me?” - “Brave news,” the old man he did say; - “Sweet William is a lady gay.” - - “If this be true thou tellest me - I ’le make thee a lord of high degree; - But if thy words do prove a lye, - Thou shalt be hanged up presently.” - - But when the king the truth had found, - His joys did more and more abound; - According as the old man did say, - Sweet William was a lady gay. - - Therefore the king without delay - Put on her glorious rich array, - And upon her head a crown of gold, - Which was most famous to behold. - - And then, for fear of further strife, - He took Sweet William for his wife; - The like before was never seen, - A serving-man to be a queen. - - -COCHRANE’S BONNY GRIZZY - - - PART I - - Listen, now, both great and simple, - Whilst I croon to you my song, - Ere such another damsel ’pears, - The world will cease to wag ere long: - For she is the flower o’er all the bower, - _My blessings on Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy_! - - Her father lay long in the Embro jail, - Wearing fast to his end, - For his head must be swept clean from his shoulders, - When the warrant the King shall send; - Singing “Woes me!” wi’ the tear in her e’e, - _Did Cochrane’s bonny daughter mourn_! - - She kissed her father’s lyart locks, - Unkempt for many a day, - And she said, “To save my father’s life, - I aiblins ken a way: - Give me thy love, that I fortune prove?” - _Quo’ Cochrane’s bonny daughter!_ - - She rode away thro’ the stragglling town, - Of beggart Hadingtown, - Syne by Dunbar, thro’ Coppersmith, - Till to Berwick she has come: - And she rapped right loud on the barred gates, - _Did Cochrane’s bonny daughter_! - - She slept all night and she rose betimes, - And crossed the long bridge of the Tweed; - And over the moor at Tweedmouth brae, - Sore draggit was her woman’s weed; - And lightin’ down by Haggerston Shaws, - _Did Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy_! - - A cloak she drew from her saddlebag, - With trunks and a doublet fair; - She cut off with a folding knife, - Her long and raven hair; - And she dressed herself in laddie’s clothes, - _Did Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy_! - - The horseman rode into Belford town, - Who carried the London mail, - Bold Grizzy she sought the hostel out, - And there with a couthy tale, - Forgathered with the London Post, - _Did Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy_! - - She roared the loudest of them a’, - Quo’ the fellow, “My canty chiel, - Deil blaw my pipes! yere the crack o’ the wa’, - And the best amang the hail!” - In the dead of night did they go to their beds, - _And so did Cochrane’s daughter_! - - She rose over the bed ere the second cock, - Went jimply along the floor; - She’s stown her father’s death warrant, - Whilst the lubber loud did snore. - She’s gained the hills ere the hue and cry - _They raised on Cochrane’s daughter_! - - - PART II - - But the King can write another brief, - For all the first be stown; - And once again the fellow rode, - With the warrant from London town. - Now out and alas! What can she do? - _For the heart of Grizzy sank!_ - - The red sun went down o’er the sea, - And the wind blew stiff and snell, - And as it shot by Grizzy’s lugs, - It sounded old Cochrane’s knell. - “But downa despair, ’tis a kittle carle!” - _Said Cochrane’s Bonny daughter!_ - - The larch and the tall fir shrieked with pain, - As they bent before the wind, - And down there fell the heavy rain, - Till sense and eyes were blind; - “A lang night ’tis ne’er sees a day,” - _Quo’ Cochrane’s undaunted Grizzy_! - - The Warlocks are dancing threesome reels, - On Goswick’s haunted links, - The red fire shoots by Ladythorne, - And Tam wi’ the Lanthorne falls and sinks. - On Kyloe’s hills there’s awful sounds, - _But they frighted not Cochrane’s Grizzy_! - - The moon beams shot from the troubled sky, - In glints of flickering light, - The horseman came skelping thro’ the mire, - For his mind was in affright: - His pistol cocked he held in his hand, - _But the sient a fear had Grizzy_! - - As he came fornents the Fenwicke woods, - From the whin-bushes shot out a flame; - His dappled filly reared up in affright, - And backward over he came; - There’s a hand on his craig, and a foot on his mouth, - _’Twas Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy_! - - “I will not take thy life,” she said, - “But give me thy London news; - No blood of thine shall syle my blad, - Gin me ye dinna refuse:” - She’s prie’d the warrant, and away she flew, - _With the speed and strength of the wild curlew_! - - * * * * * - - Love will make a foe grow kind, - Love will bring blossom where bud is naught. - Love hath softened a kingly mind, - Grizzy hath mercy to councillors taught. - Her friends at Court have prieven the life - _O’ Grizzy’s banished father_! - - She’s wedded unto a German Knight, - Her bairnies blithe with her sire remain, - She’s cast the laddie’s clouts away, - And her raven hair is growing again. - What think ye, gentles o’ every degree, - _Of Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy_? - - _(Englished)_ - - -THE GREETING OF KYNAST - - She said, “This narrow chamber is not for me the place,” - Said the Lady Kunigunde of Kynast! - “’Tis pleasanter on horseback, I’ll hie me to the chase,” - Said the Lady Kunigunde! - - She said, “The Knight who weds me, I do require of him,” - Said the Lady Kunigunde of Kynast! - “To gallop round the Kynast and break not neck nor limb.” - - A noble Knight came forward and galloped round the wall; - The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast, - The lady without lifting a finger saw him fall. - - And yet another galloped around the battlement; - The Lady Kunigunde, - The lady saw him tumble, yet did she not relent. - - And rider after rider spurred round his snorting horse; - The Lady Kunigunde - Saw him vanish o’er the rampart, and never felt remorse. - - Long time the folly lasted, then came no rider more; - The Lady Kunigunde, - They would not ride to win her, the trial was too sore. - - She stood upon her towers, she looked upon the land, - The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast: - “I’m all alone at home here, will no one seek my hand? - - “Is there none will ride to win me, to win me for his bride, - The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast? - Oh fie! the paltry rider who dreads the bridal ride!” - - Then out and spake from Thüringen the Landgrave Adelbert, - “The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast! - Well may the haughty damsel her worthiness assert.” - - He trains his horse to gallop on narrow walls of stone; - The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast! - “The lady shall not see us break neck or limb or bone. - - “See here, O noble Lady, I’m he that dares the ride!” - The Lady Kunigunde, - She looks in thoughtful silence, to see him sit in pride. - - She saw him now make ready, then trembled she and sighed - The Lady Kunigunde: - “Woe’s me that I so fearful have made the bridal ride!” - - Then rode he round the Kynast; her face she turned away, - The Lady Kunigunde: - “Woe’s me, the Knight is riding down to his grave to-day!” - - He rides around the Kynast, right round the narrow wall; - The Lady Kunigunde! - She cannot stir for terror her lily hand at all. - - He rides around the Kynast, dear round the battlement; - The Lady Kunigunde! - As if a breath might kill him, she held her breath suspent. - - He rode around the Kynast and straight to her rode he; - Said the Lady Kunigunde of Kynast: - “Thanks be to God in Heaven, who gave thy life to thee! - - “Thanks be to God that into thy grave thou didst not ride!” - Said the Lady Kunigunde: - “Come down from off thy horse now, O Knight, unto thy bride!” - - Then spake the noble rider, and greeted, as he sate, - The Lady Kunigunde: - “Oh, trust a Knight for horsemanship! well have I taught thee - that. - - “Now wait till comes another who can the same thing do, - O Lady Kunigunde of Kynast! - I’ve wife and child already, can be no spouse for you!” - - He gave his steed the spur, now; rode back the way he came; - The Lady Kunigunde! - The lady saw him vanish, she swooned with scorn and shame. - - And she remains a virgin, her pride had such a fall, - The Lady Kunigunde! - Changed to a wooden image she stands in sight of all. - - An image, like a hedgehog, with spines for hair, is now - The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast! - The stranger has to kiss it, who climbs the Kynast’s brow. - - We bring it him to kiss it; and if it shocks his pride, - The Lady Kunigunde Kynast! - He must pay down his forfeit, who will not kiss the bride, - The Lady Kunigunde! - - _Charles T. Brooks, from Rückert_ - - - - -LAYS O’ FAËRIE - - - - -THE FAIRY TEMPTER - - _A fair girl was sitting in the greenwood shade, - List’ning to the music the spring birds made; - When sweeter by far than the birds on the tree, - A voice murmured near her, “Oh! come, Love, with me-- - In earth or air, - A thing so fair - I have not seen as thee! - Then come, Love, with me.”_ - - _“With a star for thy home, in a palace of light, - Thou will add a fresh grace to the beauty of night; - Or, if wealth be thy wish, thine are treasures untold, - I will show thee the birthplace of jewels and gold gold-- - And pearly caves - Beneath the waves, - All these, all these are thine, - If thou will be mine.”_ - - _Thus whispered a Fairy to tempt the fair girl, - But vain was his promise of gold and of pearl; - For she said, “Tho’ thy gifts to a poor girl were dear, - My father, my mother, my sisters are here: - Oh! what would be - Thy gifts to me - Of earth, and sea, and air, - If my heart were not there?”_ - - _Samuel Lover_ - - -ALICE BRAND - - - I - - Merry it is in the good Greenwood, - When the mavis and merle are singing, - When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry, - And the hunter’s horn is ringing. - - “O Alice Brand, my native land - Is lost for love of you; - And we must hold by wood and wold, - As outlaws wont to do. - - “O Alice, ’t was all for thy locks so bright, - And ’t was all for thine eyes so blue, - That on the night of our luckless flight, - Thy brother bold I slew. - - “Now must I teach to hew the beech, - The hand that held the glaive, - For leaves to spread our lowly bed, - And stakes to fence our cave. - - “And for vest of pall, thy fingers small, - That wont on harp to stray, - A cloak must sheer from the slaughtered deer, - To keep the cold away.”-- - - “O Richard! if my brother died, - ’T was but a fatal chance; - For darkling was the battle tried, - And fortune sped the lance. - - “If pall and vair no more I wear, - Nor thou the crimson sheen, - As warm, we’ll say, is the russet grey, - As gay the forest green. - - “And, Richard, if our lot be hard, - And lost thy native land, - Still Alice has her own Richard, - And he his Alice Brand.” - - - II - - ’Tis merry, ’tis merry, in good Greenwood, - So blithe Lady Alice is singing; - On the beech’s pride, and oak’s brown side, - Lord Richard’s axe is ringing. - - Up spoke the moody Elfin King, - Who woned within the hill,-- - Like wind in the porch of a ruined church, - His voice was ghostly shrill. - - “Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, - Our moonlight circle’s screen? - Or who comes here to chase the deer, - Beloved of our Elfin Queen? - Or who may dare on wold to wear - The Fairies’ fatal green? - - “Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie, - For thou wert christened man; - For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, - For muttered word or ban. - - “Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, - The curse of the sleepless eye; - Till he wish and pray that his life would part, - Nor yet find leave to die.” - - - III - - ’Tis merry, ’tis merry, in good Greenwood, - Though the birds have stilled their singing; - The evening blaze doth Alice raise, - And Richard is fagots bringing. - - Up Urgan starts, that hideous Dwarf, - Before Lord Richard stands, - And, as he crossed and blessed himself, - “I fear not sign,” quoth the grisly Elf, - “That is made with bloody hands.” - - But out then spoke she, Alice Brand - That woman void of fear,-- - “And if there’s blood upon his hand, - ’Tis but the blood of deer.”-- - - “Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood! - It cleaves unto his hand, - The stain of thine own kindly blood, - The blood of Ethert Brand.” - - Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, - And made the holy sign: - “And if there’s blood on Richard’s hand, - A spotless hand is mine. - - “And I conjure thee, Demon Elf, - By Him whom Demons fear, - To show us whence thou art thyself, - And what thine errand here?” - - “’Tis merry, ’tis merry, in Fairyland, - When Fairy Birds are singing, - When the Court doth ride by their Monarch’s side, - With bit and bridle ringing: - - “And gaily shines the Fairyland-- - But all is glistening show, - Like the idle gleam that December’s beam - Can dart on ice and snow. - - “And fading, like that varied gleam, - Is our inconstant shape, - Who now like Knight and Lady seem, - And now like Dwarf and Ape. - -[Illustration: “I FEAR NOT SIGN,” QUOTH THE GRISLY ELF, “THAT IS MADE -WITH BLOODY HANDS”] - - “It was between the night and day, - When the Fairy King has power, - That I sunk down in a sinful fray, - And ’twixt life and death, was snatched away - To the joyless Elfin Bower. - - “But wist I of a woman bold, - Who thrice my brow durst sign, - I might regain my mortal mould, - As fair a form as thine.” - - She crossed him once, she crossed him twice-- - That Lady was so brave; - The fouler grew his goblin hue, - The darker grew the cave. - - She crossed him thrice, that Lady bold; - He rose beneath her hand - The fairest Knight on Scottish mould - Her brother, Ethert Brand! - - Merry it is in good Greenwood, - When the mavis and merle are singing, - But merrier were they in Dunfermline grey, - When all the bells were ringing. - - _Sir Walter Scott_ - - -THE ERL-KING - - Oh! who rides by night thro’ the woodland so wild? - It is the fond father embracing his child; - And close the boy nestles within his loved arm, - To hold himself fast and to keep himself warm. - - “O Father, see yonder! see yonder!” he says: - “My boy, upon what dost thou fearfully gaze?”-- - “Oh! ’tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud,”-- - “No, my Son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud.” - - - THE ERL-KING SPEAKS - - _“Oh! come and go with me, thou loveliest child; - By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled; - My mother keeps for thee full many a fair toy, - And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy.”_ - - “O Father, my Father! and did you not hear - The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?”-- - “Be still, my heart’s darling--my child, be at ease; - It was but the wild blast as it sung thro’ the trees.” - - - THE ERL-KING SPEAKS AGAIN - - _“Oh! wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy? - My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy; - She shall bear thee so lightly thro’ wet and thro’ wild, - And press thee and kiss thee and sing to my child.”_ - - “O Father, my Father, and saw you not plain, - The Erl-King’s pale daughter glide past thro’ the rain?”---- - “Oh, yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon: - It was the grey willow that danced to the moon.” - - - THE ERL-KING SPEAKS AGAIN - - _“Oh! come and go with me, no longer delay, - Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away.”_-- - - “O Father! O Father! now, now keep your hold, - The Erl-King has seized me--his grasp is so cold!” - - Sore trembled the father; he spurred thro’ the wild, - Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child; - He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread, - But, clasped to his bosom, the infant was _dead_! - - _Sir Walter Scott, from Goethe_ - - -THE FAIRY THORN - -AN ULSTER BALLAD - - “Get up, our Anna dear, from the weary spinning-wheel; - For your father’s on the hill, and your mother is asleep: - Come up above the crags, and we’ll dance a highland reel - Around the Fairy Thorn on the steep.” - - At Anna Grace’s door’t was thus the maidens cried, - Three merry maidens fair in kirtles of the green; - And Anna laid the rock and the weary wheel aside, - The fairest of the four, I ween. - - They’re glancing thro’ the glimmer of the quiet eve, - Away in milky wavings of neck and ankle bare; - The heavy-sliding stream in its sleepy song they leave, - And the crags in the ghostly air: - - And linking hand in hand, and singing as they go, - The maids along the hill-side have ta’en their fearless way - Till they come to where the Rowan Trees in lonely beauty grow - Beside the Fairy Hawthorn grey. - - The Hawthorn stands between the ashes tall and slim, - Like matron with her twin grand-daughters at her knee; - The Rowan berries cluster o’er her low head grey and dim, - In ruddy kisses sweet to see. - - The merry maidens four have ranged them in a row, - Between each lovely couple a stately Rowan stem, - And away in mazes wavy like skimming birds they go, - Oh, never carolled bird like them! - - But solemn is the silence of the silvery haze - That drinks away their voices in echoless repose, - And dreamily the evening has stilled the haunted braes, - And dreamier the gloaming grows. - - And sinking one by one, like lark-notes from the sky - When the falcon’s shadow saileth across the open shaw, - Are hushed the maidens’ voices as cowering down they lie - In the flutter of their sudden awe. - - For, from the air above, and the grassy ground beneath - And from the Mountain Ashes and the old Whitethorn between, - A power of faint Enchantment doth through their beings breathe - And they sink down together on the green. - - They sink together silent, and stealing side to side, - They fling their lovely arms o’er their drooping necks so fair, - Then vainly strive again their naked arms to hide, - For their shrinking necks again are bare. - - Thus clasped and prostrate all, with their heads together bowed, - Soft o’er their bosoms beating--the only human sound-- - They hear the silky footsteps of the silent Fairy crowd, - Like a river in the air, gliding round. - - Nor scream can any raise, nor prayer can any say, - But wild, wild the terror of the speechless three-- - For they feel fair Anna Grace drawn silently away, - By whom they dare not look to see. - - They feel her tresses twine with their parting locks of gold, - And the curls elastic falling, as her head withdraws; - They feel her sliding arms from their tranced arms unfold, - But they dare not look to see the cause: - - For heavy on their senses the faint Enchantment lies; - Through all that night of anguish and perilous amaze; - And neither fear nor wonder can ope their quivering eyes - Or their limbs from the cold ground raise. - - Till out of Night the Earth has rolled her dewy side, - With every haunted mountain and streamy vale below; - When, as the mist dissolves in the yellow morning tide, - The maidens’ trance dissolveth so. - - Then fly the ghastly three as swiftly as they may, - And tell their tale of sorrow to anxious friends in vain---- - They pined away and died within the year and day, - And ne’er was Anna Grace seen again. - - _Samuel Ferguson_ - - -LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI - - Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, - Alone and palely loitering? - The sedge is withered from the lake, - And no birds sing. - - Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, - So haggard and so woe-begone? - The squirrel’s granary is full, - And the harvest’s done. - - I see a lily on thy brow, - With anguish moist and fever dew; - And on thy cheek a fading rose - Fast withereth too. - - “I met a lady in the meads, - Full beautiful--a Faery’s child; - Her hair was long, her foot was light, - And her eyes were wild. - - “I set her on my pacing steed, - And nothing else saw all day long; - For sideways would she lean, and sing - A Faery’s song. - - “I made a garland for her head, - And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; - She looked at me as she did love, - And made sweet moan. - - “She found me roots of relish sweet, - And honey wild, and manna dew; - And sure in language strange she said,-- - ‘I love thee true.’ - - “She took me to her Elfin grot, - And there she gazed and sighed deep, - And there I shut her wild sad eyes eyes-- - So kissed to sleep. - - “And there we slumbered on the moss, - And there I dreamed--Ah, woe betide! - The latest dream I ever dreamed - On the cold hill-side. - - “I saw pale Kings and Princes too, - Pale warriors, death-pale were they all; - Who cried, ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci - Hath thee in thrall!’ - - “I saw their starved lips in the gloom - With horrid warning gaped wide, - And I awoke, and found me here - On the cold hill-side. - - “And this is why I sojourn here, - Alone and palely loitering, - Though the sedge is withered from the lake, - And no birds sing.” - - _John Keats_ - - -THOMAS THE RHYMER - - True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank; - A ferlie he spied wi his e’e; - And there he saw a lady bright, - Come riding down by the Eildon Tree. - - Her shirt was o the grass-green silk, - Her mantle o the velvet fyne; - At ilka tett of her horse’s mane, - Hang fifty siller bells and nine. - - True Thomas he pull’d aff his cap, - And louted low down to his knee; - “All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven! - For thy peer on earth I never did see.”-- - - “O no, O no, Thomas,” she said, - “That name does not belang to me; - I am but the Queen of fair elfland, - That am hither come to visit thee.” - - “Harp and carp, Thomas,” she said; - “Harp and carp along wi me; - And if ye dare to kiss my lips, - Sure of your bodie I will be.”-- - - “Betide me weal, betide me woe, - That weird shall never daunton me.”-- - Syne he has kissed her rosy lips, - All underneath the Eildon Tree. - - “Now, ye maun go wi me,” she said; - “True Thomas, ye maun go wi me, - And ye maun serve me seven years, - Thro weal or woe as may chance to be.” - - She mounted on her milk-white steed, - She’s ta’en True Thomas up behind: - And aye, whene’er her bridle rung, - The steed flew swifter than the wind. - - O they rade on, and farther on,-- - The steed gaed swifter than the wind: - Until they reached a desart wide, - And living land was left behind. - - “Light down, light down, now, True Thomas, - And lean your head upon my knee; - Abide and rest a little space, - And I will show you ferlies three. - - “O see ye not yon narrow road, - So thick beset with thorns and briers? - That is the path of righteousness. - Tho after it but few enquires. - - “And see not ye that braid, braid road, - That lies across the lily leven? - That is the path of wickedness, - Tho some call it the road to heaven. - - “And see not ye that bonny road, - That winds about the fernie brae? - That is the road to fair Elfland, - Where you and I this night maun gae. - - “But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue, - Whatever ye may hear or see; - For if you speak word in Elfyn land, - Ye’ll ne’er get back to your ain countrie.” - - O they rade on, and farther on, - And they waded thro rivers aboon the knee, - And they saw neither sun nor moon, - But they heard the roaring of the sea. - - It was mirk, mirk night, and there was nae stern-light, - And they waded thro red blude to the knee; - For a’ the blude that’s shed on earth - Rins thro the springs o that countrie. - - Syne they came on to a garden green, - And she pu’d an apple frae a tree: - “Take this for thy wages, True Thomas; - It will give the tongue that can never lie.” - - “My tongue is mine ain,” True Thomas said, - “A gudely gift ye wad gie to me! - I neither dought to buy nor sell, - At fair or tryst where I may be. - - “I dought neither speak to prince or peer, - Nor ask of grace from fair ladye.” - “Now hold thy peace!” the lady said, - “For as I say so must it be.” - - He has gotten a coat of the even cloth, - And a pair of shoes of velvet green; - And till seven years were gane and past, - True Thomas on earth was never seen. - - -THE KELPIE OF CORRIEVRECKAN - - - PART I - - He mounted his steed of the water clear, - And sat on his saddle of sea-weed sere; - He held his bridle of strings of pearl, - Dug out of the depths where the sea-snakes curl. - - He put on his vest of the whirlpool froth, - Soft and dainty as velvet cloth, - And donned his mantle of sand so white, - And grasped his sword of the coral bright. - - And away he galloped, a horseman free, - Spurring his steed through the stormy sea, - Clearing the billows with bound and leap-- - Away, away, o’er the foaming deep! - - By Scarba’s rock, by Lunga’s shore, - By Garveloch isles where the breakers roar, - With his horse’s hoofs he dashed the spray, - And on to Loch Buy, away, away! - - On to Loch Buy all day he rode, - And reached the shore as sunset glowed, - And stopped to hear the sounds of joy - That rose from the hills and glens of Moy. - - The morrow was May, and on the green - They’d lit the fire of Beltan E’en, - And danced around, and piled it high - With peat and heather and pine-logs dry. - - A piper played a lightsome reel, - And timed the dance with toe and heel; - While wives looked on, as lad and lass - Trod it merrily o’er the grass. - - And Jessie (fickle and fair was she) - Sat with Evan beneath a tree, - And smiled with mingled love and pride, - And half agreed to be his bride. - - The Kelpie galloped o’er the green-- - He seemed a Knight of noble mien, - And old and young stood up to see, - And wondered who the Knight could be. - - His flowing locks were auburn bright, - His cheeks were ruddy, his eyes flashed light; - And as he sprang from his good grey steed, - He looked a gallant youth indeed. - - And Jessie’s fickle heart beat high, - As she caught the stranger’s glancing eye: - And when he smiled, “Ah, well,” thought she, - “I wish this Knight came courting me!” - - He took two steps towards her seat-- - “Wilt thou be mine, O Maiden sweet?” - He took her lily-white hand, and sighed, - “Maiden, Maiden, be my bride!” - - And Jessie blushed, and whispered soft-- - “Meet me to-night when the moon’s aloft; - I’ve dreamed, fair Knight, long time of thee-- - I thought thou earnest courting me.” - - - PART II - - When the moon her yellow horn displayed, - Alone to the trysting went the maid; - When all the stars were shining bright, - Alone to the trysting went the Knight. - - “I have loved thee long, I have loved thee well, - Maiden, oh more than words can tell! - Maiden, thine eyes like diamonds shine; - Maiden, Maiden, be thou mine!” - - “Fair Sir, thy suit I’ll ne’er deny-- - Though poor my lot, my hopes are high; - I scorn a lover of low degree-- - None but a Knight shall marry me.” - - He took her by the hand so white, - And gave her a ring of the gold so bright; - “Maiden, whose eyes like diamonds shine-- - Maiden, Maiden, now thou’rt mine!” - - He lifted her up on his steed of grey, - And they rode till morning away, away-- - Over the mountain and over the moor, - And over the rocks, to the dark sea-shore. - - “We have ridden East, we have ridden West-- - I’m weary, fair Knight, and I fain would rest, - Say, is thy dwelling beyond the sea? - Hast thou a good ship waiting for me?” - - “I have no dwelling beyond the sea, - I have no good ship waiting for thee; - Thou shalt sleep with me on a couch of foam, - And the depths of the ocean shall be thy home.” - - The grey steed plunged in the billows clear, - And the maiden’s shrieks were sad to hear. - “Maiden, whose eyes like diamonds shine-- - Maiden, Maiden, now thou’rt mine!” - - Loud the cold sea-blast did blow, - As they sank ’mid the angry waves below-- - Down to the rocks where the serpents creep, - Twice five hundred fathoms deep. - - At morn a fisherman, sailing by, - Saw her pale corse floating high; - He knew the maid by her yellow hair - And her lily skin so soft and fair. - - Under a rock on Scarba’s shore, - Where the wild winds sigh and the breakers roar, - They dug her a grave by the water clear, - Among the sea-weed salt and seer. - - And every year at Beltan E’en, - The Kelpie gallops across the green, - On a steed as fleet as the wintry wind, - With Jessie’s mournful ghost behind. - - I warn you, maids, whoever you be, - Beware of pride and vanity; - And ere on change of love you reckon, - Beware the Kelpie of Corrievreckan. - - _Charles Mackay_ - - -KILMENY - - Bonny Kilmeny gaed up the glen; - But it wasna to meet Duneira’s men, - Nor the rosy monk of the isle to see, - For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be. - It was only to hear the yorlin sing, - And pu’ the cress-flower round the spring; - The scarlet hypp and the hindberrye, - And the nut that hang frae the hazel tree; - For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be. - But lang may her minny look o’er the wa’, - And lang may she seek i’ the green-wood shaw; - Lang the laird of Duneira blame, - And lang, lang greet or Kilmeny come hame! - - When many a day had come and fled, - When grief grew calm, and hope was dead, - When mess for Kilmeny’s soul had been sung, - When the bedes-man had prayed, and the dead bell rung, - Late, late in a gloamin when all was still, - When the fringe was red on the westlin hill, - The wood was sere, the moon i’ the wane, - The reek o’ the cot hung over the plain, - Like a little wee cloud in the world its lane; - When the ingle lowed with a eiry leme, - Late, late in the gloamin Kilmeny came hame! - - “Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been? - Lang hae we sought baith holt and den; - By linn, by ford, and green-wood tree, - Yet you are halesome and fair to see. - Where gat you that joup o’ the lily scheen? - That bonny snood of the birk sae green? - And these roses, the fairest that ever were seen? - Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been?” - - Kilmeny looked up with a lovely grace, - But nae smile was seen on Kilmeny’s face; - As still was her look, and as still was her e’e, - As the stillness that lay on the emerant lea, - Or the mist that sleeps on a waveless sea. - For Kilmeny had been she knew not where, - And Kilmeny had seen what she could not declare; - Kilmeny had been where the cock never crew, - Where the rain never fell, and the wind never blew; - But it seemed as the harp of the sky had rung, - And the airs of heaven played round her tongue, - When she spake of the lovely forms she had seen, - And a land where sin had never been; - A land of love, and a land of light, - Withouten sun, or moon, or night; - Where the river swa’d a living stream, - And the light a pure celestial beam: - The land of vision it would seem, - A still, an everlasting dream. - - In yon green-wood there is a waik, - And in that waik there is a wene, - And in that wene there is a maik - That neither has flesh, blood, nor bane; - And down in yon green-wood he walks his lane. - - In that green wene Kilmeny lay, - Her bosom happed wi’ the flowerets gay; - But the air was soft and the silence deep, - And bonny Kilmeny fell sound asleep. - She kend nae mair, nor opened her e’e, - Till waked by the hymns of a far countrye. - - She ’wakened on a couch of the silk sae slim, - All striped wi’ the bars of the rainbow’s rim; - And lovely beings round were rife, - Who erst had travelled mortal life; - And aye they smiled, and ’gan to speer, - “What spirit has brought this mortal here!” - - “Lang have I journeyed the world wide,” - A meek and reverend Fere replied; - “Baith night and day I have watched the fair, - Eident a thousand years and mair. - Yes, I have watched o’er ilk degree, - Wherever blooms femenitye; - But sinless virgin, free of stain - In mind and body, fand I nane. - Never, since the banquet of time, - Found I a virgin in her prime, - Till late this bonny maiden I saw - As spotless as the morning snaw: - Full twenty years she has lived as free - As the spirits that sojourn in this countrye: - I have brought her away frae the snares of men, - That sin or death she never may ken.”-- - - They clasped her waist and her hands sae fair, - They kissed her cheek, and they kemed her hair, - And round came many a blooming Fere, - Saying, “Bonny Kilmeny, ye’re welcome here! - Women are freed of the littand scorn: - O, blessed be the day Kilmeny was born! - Now shall the land of the spirits see, - Now shall it ken what a woman may be! - Many a lang year in sorrow and pain, - Many a lang year through the world we’ve gane, - Commissioned to watch fair womankind, - For it’s they who nurice the immortal mind. - We have watched their steps as the dawning shone, - And deep in the green-wood walks alone; - By lily bower and silken bed, - The viewless tears have o’er them shed; - Have soothed their ardent minds to sleep, - Or left the couch of love to weep. - We have seen! we have seen! but the time must come, - And the Angels will weep at the day of doom! - - “O, would the fairest of mortal kind - Aye keep the holy truths in mind, - That kindred spirits their motions see, - Who watch their ways with anxious e’e, - And grieve for the guilt of humanitye! - O, sweet to Heaven the maiden’s prayer, - And the sigh that heaves a bosom sae fair! - And dear to Heaven the words of truth, - And the praise of virtue frae beauty’s mouth! - And dear to the viewless forms of air, - The minds that kythe as the body fair! - - “O, bonny Kilmeny! free frae stain, - If ever you seek the world again, - That world of sin, of sorrow, and fear, - O, tell of the joys that are waiting here; - And tell of the signs you shall shortly see; - Of the times that are now, and the times that shall be.” - - They lifted Kilmeny, they led her away, - And she walked in the light of a sunless day: - The sky was a dome of crystal bright, - The fountain of vision, and fountain of light: - The emerald fields were of dazzling glow, - And the flowers of everlasting blow. - Then deep in the stream her body they laid, - That her youth and beauty never might fade; - And they smiled on Heaven, when they saw her lie - In the stream of life that wandered bye. - And she heard a song, she heard it sung, - She kend not where; but sae sweetly it rung, - It fell on her ear like a dream of the morn-- - “O, blest be the day Kilmeny was born! - Now shall the land of the spirits see, - Now shall it ken what a woman may be! - The sun that shines on the world sae bright, - A borrowed gleid frae the fountain of light; - And the moon that sleeks the sky sae dun, - Like a gouden bow, or a beamless sun, - Shall wear away, and be seen nae mair, - And the Angels shall miss them travelling the air. - But lang, lang after baith night and day, - When the sun and the world have elyed away; - When the sinner has gane to his waesome doom, - Kilmeny shall smile in eternal bloom!” - - They bore her away, she wist not how, - For she felt not arm nor rest below; - But so swift they wained her through the light, - ’T was like the motion of sound or sight; - They seemed to split the gales of air, - And yet nor gale nor breeze was there. - Unnumbered groves below them grew, - They came, they past, and backward flew, - like floods of blossoms gliding on, - In moment seen, in moment gone. - O, never vales to mortal view - Appeared like those o’er which they flew! - That land to human spirits given, - The lowermost vales of the storied Heaven; - From thence they can view the world below, - And Heaven’s blue gates with sapphires glow, - More glory yet unmeet to know. - - They bore her far to a mountain green, - To see what mortal never had seen; - And they seated her high on a purple sward, - And bade her heed what she saw and heard, - And note the changes the spirits wrought, - For now she lived in the Land of Thought. - She looked, and she saw nor sun nor skies, - But a crystal dome of a thousand dies: - She looked, and she saw nae land aright, - But an endless whirl of glory and light: - And radiant beings went and came - Far swifter than wind, or the linked flame. - She hid her e’en frae the dazzling view; - She looked again, and the scene was new. - - But to sing the sights Kilmeny saw, - So far surpassing nature’s law, - The singer’s voice wad sink away, - And the string of his harp wad cease to play. - But she saw till the sorrows of man were bye, - And all was love and harmony; - Till the stars of Heaven fell calmly away, - Like the flakes of snaw on a winter day. - - Then Kilmeny begged again to see - The friends she had left in her own countrye, - To tell of the place where she had been, - And the glories that lay in the land unseen; - To warn the living maidens fair, - The loved of Heaven, the spirits’ care, - That all whose minds unmeled remain - Shall bloom in beauty when time is gane. - - With distant music, soft and deep, - They lulled Kilmeny sound asleep; - And when she awakened, she lay her lane, - All happed with flowers in the green-wood wene. - When seven lang years had come and fled; - When grief was calm, and hope was dead; - When scarce was remembered Kilmeny’s name, - Late, late in a gloamin Kilmeny came hame! - And O, her beauty was fair to see, - But still and steadfast was her e’e! - Such beauty bard may never declare, - For there was no pride nor passion there; - And the soft desire of maiden’s e’en - In that mild face could never be seen. - Her seymar was the lily flower, - And her cheek the moss-rose in the shower; - And her voice like the distant melodye, - That floats along the twilight sea. - But she loved to raike the lanely glen, - And keeped afar frae the haunts of men; - Her holy hymns unheard to sing, - To suck the flowers, and drink the spring. - But wherever her peaceful form appeared, - The wild beasts of the hill were cheered; - The wolf played blythely round the field, - The lordly byson lowed and kneeled; - The dun deer wooed with manner bland, - And cowered aneath her lily hand. - And when at even the woodlands rung, - When hymns of other worlds she sung, - In ecstasy of sweet devotion, - O, then the glen was all in motion! - The wild beasts of the forest came, - Broke from their bughts and faulds the tame, - And goved around, charmed and amazed; - Even the dull cattle crooned and gazed, - And murmured and looked with anxious pain - For something the mystery to explain. - - The buzzard came with the throstle-cock; - The corby left her houf in the rock; - The blackbird alang wi’ the eagle flew; - The hind came tripping o’er the dew; - The wolf and the kid their raike began, - And the tod, and the lamb, and the leveret ran; - The hawk and the hern attour them hung, - And the merl and the mavis forhooyed their young; - And all in a peaceful ring were hurled: - It was like an eve in a sinless world! - - When a month and a day had come and gane, - Kilmeny sought the green-wood wene; - There laid her down on the leaves sae green, - And Kilmeny on earth was never mair seen. - But, O, the words that fell from her mouth, - Were words of wonder and words of truth! - But all the land were in fear and dread, - For they kendna whether she was living or dead. - It wasna her hame, and she couldna remain; - She left this world of sorrow and pain, - And returned to the Land of Thought again. - - _The Ettrick Shepherd. (Condensed)_ - - - - -LAYS O’ WONDER - - - - -THE WEE WEE MAN - - _As I was walking all alane, - Between a water and a wa’, - And there I spied a wee wee man, - And he was the least that e’er I saw._ - - _His legs were scarce a shathmont’s length, - And thick and thimber was his thie; - Between his brows there was a span, - And between his shoulders there was three._ - - _He took up a meikle stane, - And he flang’t as far as I could see; - Though I had been a Wallace wight, - I couldna liften’t to my knee._ - - _“O, wee wee man, but thou art strang! - O tell me where thy dwelling be?” - “My dwelling’s down by yon bonny bower, - O will you go with me and see?”_ - - _On we lap, and awa’ we rade, - Till we came to yon bonny green; - We lighted down to bait our horse, - And out there came a lady fine._ - - _Four-and-twenty at her back, - And they were a’ clad out in green; - Though the King of Scotland had been there, - The warst o’ them might hae been his queen._ - - _On we lap, and awa’ we rade, - Till we came to yon bonny ha’, - Where the roof was o’ the beaten gowd. - And the floor was o’ the crystal a’._ - - _When we came to the stair foot, - Ladies were dancing jimp and sma’; - But in the twinkling o’ an ee, - My wee wee man was clean awa’._ - - -THE EARL OF MAR’S DAUGHTER - - - PART I - - It was intill a pleasant time, - Upon a simmer’s day, - The noble Earl of Mar’s daughter - Went forth to sport and play. - - As thus she did amuse hersell, - Below a green aik tree, - There she saw a sprightly doo - Set on a tower sae hie. - - “O Cow-me-doo, my love sae true, - If ye’ll come down to me, - Ye’se hae a cage o guid red gowd - Instead o simple tree: - - “I’ll put gowd hingers roun your cage, - And siller roun your wa; - I’ll gar ye shine as fair a bird - As ony o them a’.” - - But she hadnae these words well spoke, - Nor yet these words well said, - Till Cow-me-doo flew frae the tower - And lighted on her head. - - Then she has brought this pretty bird - Hame to her bowers and ha, - And made him shine as fair a bird - As ony o them a’. - - When day was gane, and night was come, - About the evening tide, - This lady spied a sprightly youth - Stand straight up by her side. - - “From whence came ye, young man?” she said; - “That does surprise me sair; - My door was bolted right secure, - What way hae ye come here?” - - “O had your tongue, ye lady fair, - Lat a’ your folly be; - Mind ye not on your turtle-doo - Last day ye brought wi thee?” - - “O tell me mair, young man,” she said, - “This does surprise me now; - What country hae ye come frae? - What pedigree are you?” - - “My mither lives on foreign isles, - She has nae mair but me; - She is a queen o wealth and state, - And birth and high degree. - - “Likewise well skilld in magic spells, - As ye may plainly see, - And she transformd me to yon shape, - To charm such maids as thee. - - “I am a doo the live-lang day, - A sprightly youth at night; - This aye gars me appear mair fair - In a fair maiden’s sight. - - “And it was but this verra day - That I came ower the sea; - Your lovely face did me enchant; - I’ll live and dee wi thee.” - - “O Cow-me-doo, my luve sae true, - Nae mair frae me ye’se gae;” - “That’s never my intent, my luve, - As ye said, it shall be sae.” - - “O Cow-me-doo, my luve sae true, - It’s time for us to wed;” - “Wi a’ my heart, my dear marrow, - It’s be as ye hae said.” - - - PART II - - Then he has staid in bower wi her - For sax lang years and ane, - Till sax young sons to him she bare, - And the seventh she’s brought hame. - - But aye as ever a child was born - He carried them away, - And brought them to his mither’s care, - As fast as he coud fly. - - Thus he has staid in bower wi her - For twenty years and three; - There came a lord o high renown - To court this fair ladie. - - But still his proffer she refused, - And a’ his presents too; - Says, “I’m content to live alane - Wi my bird, Cow-me-doo.” - - Her father sware a solemn oath - Amang the nobles all, - “The morn, or ere I eat or drink, - This bird I will gar kill.” - - The bird was sitting in his cage, - And heard what they did say; - And when he found they were dismist, - Says, “Wae’s me for this day! - - “Before that I do langer stay, - And thus to be forlorn, - I’ll gang unto my mither’s bower, - Where I was bred and born.” - - Then Cow-me-doo took flight and flew - Beyond the raging sea, - And lighted near his mither’s castle, - On a tower o gowd sae hie. - - As his mither was wauking out, - To see what she coud see, - And there she saw her little son, - Set on the tower sae hie. - - “Get dancers here to dance,” she said, - “And minstrells for to play; - For here’s my young son, Florentine, - Come here wi me to stay.” - - “Get nae dancers to dance, mither, - Nor minstrells for to play, - For the mither o my seven sons, - The morn’s her wedding-day.” - - “O tell me, tell me, Florentine, - Tell me, and tell me true, - Tell me this day without a flaw, - What I will do for you.” - - “Instead of dancers to dance, mither, - Or minstrells for to play, - Turn four-and-twenty wall-wight men - Like storks in feathers gray; - - “My seven sons in seven swans, - Aboon their heads to flee; - And I mysell a gay gos-hawk, - A bird o high degree.” - - Then sichin said the queen hersell, - “That thing’s too high for me;” - But she applied to an auld woman, - Who had mair skill than she. - - Instead o dancers to dance a dance, - Or minstrells for to play, - Four-and-twenty wall-wight men - Turnd birds o feathers gray; - - Her seven sons in seven swans, - Aboon their heads to flee; - And he himsell a gay gos-hawk, - A bird o high degree. - - This flock o birds took flight and flew - Beyond the raging sea, - And landed near the Earl Mar’s castle, - Took shelter in every tree. - - They were a flock o pretty birds, - Right comely to be seen; - The people viewd them wi surprise, - As they dancd on the green. - - These birds ascended frae the tree - And lighted on the ha, - And at the last wi force did flee - Amang the nobles a’. - - The storks there seized some o the men, - They coud neither fight nor flee; - The swans they bound the bride’s best man - Below a green aik tree. - - They lighted next on maidens fair, - Then on the bride’s own head, - And wi the twinkling o an ee - The bride and them were fled. - - There’s ancient men at weddings been - For sixty years or more, - But sic a curious wedding-day - They never saw before. - - For naething coud the companie do, - Nor naething coud they say - But they saw a flock o pretty birds - That took their bride away. - - When that Earl Mar he came to know - Where his dochter did stay, - He signd a bond o’ unity, - And visits now they pay. - - -KEMP OWYNE - - Her mother died when she was young, - Which gave her cause to make great moan; - Her father married the warst woman - That ever lived in Christendom. - - She served her with foot and hand, - In every thing that she could dee, - Till once, in an unlucky time, - She threw her in ower Craigy’s sea. - - Says, “Lie you there, dove Isabel, - And all my sorrows lie with thee; - Till Kemp Owyne come ower the sea, - And borrow you with kisses three, - Let all the warld do what they will, - Oh borrowed shall you never be!” - - Her breath grew strang, her hair grew lang, - And twisted thrice about the tree, - And all the people, far and near, - Thought that a savage beast was she. - - These news did come to Kemp Owyne, - Where he lived, far beyond the sea; - He hasted him to Craigy’s sea, - And on the savage beast lookd he. - - Her breath was strang, her hair was lang, - And twisted was about the tree, - And with a swing she came about: - “Come to Craigy’s sea, and kiss with me. - - “Here is a royal belt,” she cried, - “That I have found in the green sea; - And while your body it is on, - Drawn shall your blood never be; - But if you touch me, tail or fin, - I vow my belt your death shall be.” - - He stepped in, gave her a kiss, - The royal belt he brought him wi; - Her breath was strang, her hair was lang, - And twisted twice about the tree, - And with a swing she came about: - “Come to Craigy’s sea, and kiss with me. - - “Here is a royal ring,” she said, - “That I have found in the green sea; - And while your finger it is on, - Drawn shall your blood never be; - But if you touch me, tail or fin, - I swear my ring your death shall be.” - - He stepped in, gave her a kiss, - The royal ring he brought him wi; - Her breath was strang, her hair was lang, - And twisted ance about the tree, - And with a swing she came about: - “Come to Craigy’s sea, and kiss with me. - - “Here is a royal brand,” she said, - “That I have found in the green sea; - And while your body it is on, - Drawn shall your blood never be; - But if you touch me, tail or fin, - I swear my brand your death shall be.” - - He stepped in, gave her a kiss, - The royal brand he brought him wi; - Her breath was sweet, her hair grew short, - And twisted nane about the tree, - And smilingly she came about, - As fair a woman as fair could be. - - -THE LADY OF SHALOTT - - - PART I - - On either side the river lie - Long fields of barley and of rye, - That clothe the wold and meet the sky; - And thro’ the field the road runs by - To many-towered Camelot; - And up and down the people go, - Gazing where the lilies blow - Round an island there below. - The island of Shalott. - - Willows whiten, aspens quiver, - Little breezes dusk and shiver - Thro’ the wave that runs for ever - By the island in the river - Flowing down to Camelot. - Four grey walls, and four grey towers, - Overlook a space of flowers, - And the silent isle imbowers - The Lady of Shalott. - - By the margin, willow-veiled, - Slide the heavy barges trailed - By slow horses; and unhailed - The shallop flitteth silken-sailed - Skimming down to Camelot; - But who hath seen her wave her hand? - Or at the casement seen her stand? - Or is she known in all the land, - The Lady of Shalott? - - Only reapers, reaping early - In among the bearded barley, - Hear a song that echoes cheerly - From the river winding clearly, - Down to towered Camelot; - And by the moon the reaper weary, - Piling sheaves in uplands airy, - Listening, whispers “’Tis the Fairy - Lady of Shalott.” - - - PART II - - There she weaves by night and day - A magic web with colours gay. - She has heard a whisper say, - A curse is on her if she stay - To look down to Camelot. - She knows not what the curse may be, - And so she weaveth steadily, - And little other care hath she, - The Lady of Shalott. - - And moving thro’ a mirror clear - That hangs before her all the year, - Shadows of the world appear. - There she sees the highway near - Winding down to Camelot; - There the river eddy whirls, - And there the surly village-churls, - And the red cloaks of market-girls, - Pass onward from Shalott. - - Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, - An abbot on an ambling pad, - Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad, - Or long-haired page in crimson clad, - Goes by to towered Camelot; - And sometimes thro’ the mirror blue - The Knights come riding two and two: - She hath no loyal Knight and true, - The Lady of Shalott. - - But in her web she still delights - To weave the mirror’s magic sights, - For often thro’ the silent nights - A funeral, with plumes and lights - And music, went to Camelot; - Or when the moon was overhead, - Came two young lovers lately wed: - “I am half sick of shadows,” said - The Lady of Shalott. - - - PART III - - A bow-shot from her bower-eaves, - He rode between the barley-sheaves, - The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves, - And flamed upon the brazen greaves - Of bold Sir Lancelot. - A Red-cross Knight for ever kneeled - To a lady in his shield, - That sparkled on the yellow field, - Beside remote Shalott. - - The gemmy bridle glittered free, - Like to some branch of stars we see - Hung in the golden Galaxy. - The bridle-bells rang merrily - As he rode down to Camelot: - And from his blazoned baldric slung - A mighty silver bugle hung, - And as he rode his armour rung, - Beside remote Shalott. - - All in the blue unclouded weather - Thick-jewelled shone the saddle-leather, - The helmet and the helmet-feather - Burned like one burning flame together, - As he rode down to Camelot; - As often thro’ the purple night, - Below the starry clusters bright, - Some bearded meteor, trailing light, - Moves over still Shalott. - - His broad clear brow in sunlight glowed; - On burnished hooves his war-horse trode; - From underneath his helmet flowed - His coal-black curls as on he rode, - As he rode down to Camelot. - From the bank and from the river - He flashed into the crystal mirror, - “Tirra lirra,” by the river - Sang Sir Lancelot. - - She left the web, she left the loom, - She made three paces thro’ the room, - She saw the water-lily bloom, - She saw the helmet and the plume, - She looked down to Camelot. - Out flew the web and floated wide; - The mirror cracked from side to side; - “The curse is come upon me,” cried - The Lady of Shalott. - - - PART IV - - In the stormy east-wind straining, - The pale yellow woods were waning, - The broad stream in his banks complaining, - Heavily the low sky raining - Over towered Camelot; - Down she came and found a boat - Beneath a willow left afloat, - And round about the prow she wrote - _The Lady of Shalott_. - - And down the river’s dim expanse - Like some bold seër in a trance, - Seeing all his own mischance-- - With a glassy countenance - Did she look to Camelot. - And at the closing of the day - She loosed the chain, and down she lay; - The broad stream bore her far away, - The Lady of Shalott. - - Lying, robed in snowy white - That loosely flew to left and right-- - The leaves upon her falling light-- - Thro’ the noises of the night - She floated down to Camelot; - And as the boat-head wound along - The willowy hills and fields among, - They heard her singing her last song, - The Lady of Shalott. - - Heard a carol, mournful, holy, - Chanted loudly, chanted lowly, - Till her blood was frozen slowly, - And her eyes were darkened wholly, - Turned to towered Camelot. - For ere she reached upon the tide - The first house by the water-side, - Singing in her song she died, - The Lady of Shalott. - - Under tower and balcony, - By garden-wall and gallery, - A gleaming shape she floated by, - Dead-pale between the houses high, - Silent into Camelot. - Out upon the wharfs they came, - Knight and burgher, lord and dame, - And round the prow they read her name, - _The Lady of Shalott_. - - Who is this? and what is here? - And in the lighted palace near - Died the sound of royal cheer; - And they crossed themselves for fear, - All the Knights at Camelot: - But Lancelot mused a little space; - He said, “She has a lovely face; - God in his mercy lend her grace, - The Lady of Shalott.” - - _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ - - -THE SINGING LEAVES - - - I - - “What fairings will ye that I bring?” - Said the King to his daughters three; - “For I to Vanity Fair am boun’, - Now say what shall they be?” - - Then up and spake the eldest daughter, - That lady tall and grand: - “Oh, bring me pearls and diamonds great, - And gold rings for my hand.” - - Thereafter spake the second daughter, - That was both white and red: - “For me bring silks that will stand alone, - And a gold comb for my head.” - - Then came the turn of the least daughter, - That was whiter than thistle-down, - And among the gold of her blithesome hair - Dim shone the golden crown. - - “There came a bird this morning, - And sang ’neath my bower eaves, - Till I dreamed, as his music made me, - ‘Ask thou for the Singing Leaves.’” - - Then the brow of the King swelled crimson - With a flush of angry scorn: - “Well have ye spoken, my two eldest, - And chosen as ye were born; - - “But she, like a thing of peasant race, - That is happy binding the sheaves;” - Then he saw her dead mother in her face, - And said, “Thou shalt have thy leaves.” - - - II - - He mounted and rode three days and nights - Till he came to Vanity Fair, - And ’t was easy to buy the gems and the silk, - But no Singing Leaves were there. - - Then deep in the Greenwood rode he, - And asked of every tree, - “Oh, if you have ever a Singing Leaf, - I pray you give it me!” - - But the trees all kept their counsel, - And never a word said they, - Only there sighed from the pine-tops - A music of seas far away. - - Only the pattering aspen - Made a sound of growing rain, - That fell ever faster and faster, - Then faltered to silence again. - - “Oh, where shall I find a little foot-page - That would win both hose and shoon, - And will bring to me the Singing Leaves - If they grow under the moon?” - - Then lightly turned him Walter the page, - By the stirrup as he ran: - “Now pledge you me the truesome word - Of a King and gentleman, - - “That you will give me the first, first thing - You meet at your castle-gate, - And the Princess shall get the Singing Leaves, - Or mine be a traitor’s fate.” - - The King’s head dropt upon his breast - A moment, as it might be; - ’T will be my dog, he thought, and said, - “My faith I plight to thee.” - - Then Walter took from next his heart - A packet small and thin, - “Now give you this to the Princess Anne, - The Singing Leaves are therein.” - - - III - - As the King rode in at his castle-gate, - A maiden to meet him ran, - And “Welcome, Father!” she laughed and cried - Together, the Princess Anne. - - “Lo, here the Singing Leaves,” quoth he, - “And woe, but they cost me dear!” - She took the packet, and the smile - Deepened down beneath the tear. - - It deepened down till it reached her heart, - And then gushed up again, - And lighted her tears as the sudden sun - Transfigures the summer rain. - - And the first Leaf, when it was opened, - Sang: “I am Walter the page, - And the songs I sing ’neath thy window - Are my only heritage.” - - And the second Leaf sang, “But in the land - That is neither on earth nor sea, - My lute and I are lords of more - Than thrice this kingdom’s fee.” - - And the third Leaf sang, “Be mine! Be mine!” - And ever it sang, “Be mine!” - Then sweeter it sang and ever sweeter, - And said, “I am thine, thine, thine!” - - At the first Leaf she grew pale enough, - At the second she turned aside, - At the third, ’t was as if a lily flushed - With a rose’s red heart’s tide. - - “Good counsel gave the bird,” said she, - “I have my hope thrice o’er, - For they sing to my very heart,” she said, - “And it sings to them evermore.” - - She brought to him her beauty and truth, - But and broad earldoms three, - And he made her Queen of the broader lands - He held of his lute in fee. - - _James Russell Lowell_ - - -THE LUCK OF EDENHALL - - Of Edenhall, the youthful Lord - Bids sound the festal trumpet’s call; - He rises at the banquet board, - And cries, ’mid the drunken revellers all: - “Now bring me the Luck of Edenhall!” - - The butler hears the words with pain, - The house’s oldest seneschal, - Takes slow from its silken cloth again - The drinking-glass of crystal tall; - They call it the Luck of Edenhall. - - Then said the Lord: “This glass to praise, - Fill with red wine from Portugal!” - The greybeard with trembling hand obeys; - A purple light shines over all, - It beams from the Luck of Edenhall. - - Then speaks the Lord, and waves it light: - “This glass of flashing crystal tall - Gave to my sires the Fountain-Sprite; - She wrote in it, _If this glass doth fall, - Farewell then, O Luck of Edenhall!_ - - “’T was right a goblet the Fate should be - Of the joyous race of Edenhall! - Deep draughts drink we right willingly - And willingly ring, with merry call, - Kling! klang! to the Luck of Edenhall!” - - First rings it deep, and full, and mild, - Like to the song of a nightingale; - Then like the roar of a torrent wild; - Then mutters at last like the thunder’s fall, - The glorious Luck of Edenhall. - - “For its keeper takes a race of might, - The fragile goblet of crystal tall; - It has lasted longer than is right; - Kling! klang!--with a harder blow than all - Will I try the Luck of Edenhall!” - - As the goblet ringing flies apart, - Suddenly cracks the vaulted hall; - And through the rift, the wild flames start; - The guests in dust are scattered all, - With the breaking Luck of Edenhall! - - In storms the foe, with fire and sword; - He in the night had scaled the wall, - Slain by the sword lies the youthful Lord, - But holds in his hand the crystal tall, - The shattered Luck of Edenhall. - - On the morrow the butler gropes alone, - The greybeard in the desert hall, - He seeks his Lord’s burnt skeleton,’ - He seeks in the dismal ruin’s fall - The shards of the Luck of Edenhall. - - “The stone wall,” saith he, “doth fall aside, - Down must the stately columns fall; - Glass is this earth’s Luck and Pride; - In atoms shall fall this earthly ball - One day like the Luck of Edenhall!” - - _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from Uhland_ - - -MAY OF THE MORIL GLEN - - - PART I - - I will tell you of ane wondrous tale, - As ever was told by man, - Or ever was sung by minstrel meet - Since this base world began:-- - - It is of ane May, and ane lovely May, - That dwelt in the Moril Glen, - The fairest flower of mortal frame, - But a devil amongst the men; - - For nine of them sticket themselves for love, - And ten leaped in the main, - And seven-and-thirty brake their hearts, - And never loved women again. - - But this bonnie May, she never knew - A father’s kindly claim; - She never was blessed in holy Church, - Nor christened in holy name. - - But there she lived an earthly flower - Of beauty so supreme, - Some feared she was of the Mermaid’s brood, - Come out of the salt sea faeme. - - Some said she was found in a Fairy Ring, - And born of the Fairy Queen; - For there was a rainbow behind the moon - That night she first was seen. - - And no man could look on her face - And eyne that beamed so dear - But felt a sting go through his heart, - Far sharper than a spear. - - So that around the Moril Glen - Our brave young men did lie, - With limbs as lydder and as lithe - As duddis hung out to dry. - - And aye the tears ran down in streams - O’er cheeks right woe-begone; - And aye they gasped, and they gratte, - And thus made piteous moan:-- - - “Alack! that I had ever been born, - Or dandelit on the knee; - Or rockit in ane cradle bed, - Beneath a mother’s e’e! - - “For love is like the fiery flame - That quivers through the rain, - And love is like the pang of death - That splits the heart in twain. - - “If I had loved earthly thing - Of earthly blithesomeness, - I might have been beloved again, - And bathed in earthly bliss. - - “But I have loved ane freakish Fay - Of frowardness and sin, - With heavenly beauty on the face, - And heart of stone within!” - - - PART II - - But word’s gone East, and word’s gone West, - ’Mong high and low degree, - While it went to the King upon the throne, - And ane wrathful man was he. - - “What!” said the King, “and shall we sit - In sackcloth mourning sad, - While all mine lieges of the land - For ane young quean run mad? - - “Go, saddle me my milk-white steed, - Of true Megaira brode; - I will go and see this wondrous dame, - And prove her by the Rode. - - “And if I find her Elfin Queen, - Or thing of Fairy kind, - I will burn her into ashes small, - And sift them on the wind.” - - The King hath chosen four-score Knights, - All busked gallantlye, - And he is away to the Moril Glen, - As fast as he can dree. - - And when he came to the Moril Glen, - Ae morning fair and clear, - This lovely May on horseback rode - To hunt the fallow deer. - - Her palfrey was of snowy hue, - A pale unearthly thing, - That revelled over hill and dale - Like bird upon the wing. - - Her screen was like a net of gold, - That dazzled as it flew; - Her mantle was of the rainbow’s red, - Her rail of its bonny blue. - - A golden comb with diamonds bright, - Her seemly virgin crown, - Shone like the new moon’s lady-light - O’er cloud of amber brown. - - The lightning that shot from her eyne, - Flickered like Elfin brand; - It was sharper nor the sharpest spear - In all Northumberland. - - The King he wheeled him round about, - And calleth to his men, - “Yonder she comes, this wierdly Witch, - This spirit of the glen! - - “Come, rank your master up behind, - This serpent to belay; - I’ll let you hear me put her down, - In grand polemic way.” - - Swift came the maid o’er strath and stron-- - Nae dantonit dame was she,-- - Until the King her path withstood - In might and majestye. - - The virgin cast on him a look, - With gay and graceful air, - As on something below her note, - That ought not to have been there. - - The King, whose belt was like to burst, - With speeches most divine, - Now felt ane throbbing of the heart, - And quaking of the spine. - - And aye he gasped for his breath, - And gaped in dire dismay, - And waved his arm, and smote his breast; - But word he could not say. - - The spankie grewis they scoured the dale, - The dun deer to restrain; - The virgin gave her steed the rein, - And followed, might and main. - - “Go bring her back,” the King he cried; - “This reifery must not be. - Though you should bind her hands and feet, - Go, bring her back to me.” - - The deer she flew, the garf and grew - They followed hard behind; - The milk-white palfrey brushed the dew - Far fleeter nor the wind. - - But woe betide the Lords and Knights, - That taiglit in the dell! - For though with whip and spur they plied, - Full far behind they fell. - - They looked out o’er their left shoulders, - To see what they might see, - And there the King, in fit of love, - Lay spurring on the lea. - - And, aye, he battered with his feet, - And rowted with despair, - And pulled the grass up by the roots, - And flung it on the air! - - “What ails, what ails my royal Liege? - Such grief I do deplore.” - “Oh, I’m bewitched,” the King replied, - “And gone forevermore! - - “Go, bring her back!--go, bring her back!-- - Go, bring her back to me! - For I must either die of love, - Or own that dear Ladye!” - - The deer was slain; the royal train - Then closed the virgin round, - And then her fair and lily hands - Behind her back were bound. - - But who should bind her winsome feet?-- - That bred such strife and pain, - That sixteen brave and belted Knights - Lay gasping on the plain. - - And when she came before the King, - Ane ireful carle was he; - Saith he, “Dame, you must be my love, - Or burn beneath ane tree.” - - “No, I can ne’er be love to thee, - Nor any lord thou hast; - For you are married men each one, - And I a maiden chaste. - - “But here I promise, and I vow - By Scotland’s King and Crown, - Who first a widower shall prove, - Shall claim me as his own.” - - The King hath mounted his milk-white steed,-- - One word he said not more,-- - And he is away from the Moril Glen, - As ne’er rode King before. - - And every Lord and every Knight - Made off his several way, - All galloping as they had been mad, - Withoutten stop or stay. - - But there was never such dole and pain - In any land befel; - For there is wickedness in man, - That grieveth me to tell. - - There was one eye, and one alone, - Beheld the deeds were done; - But the lovely Queen of Fair Scotland - Ne’er saw the morning sun. - - And seventy-seven wedded dames, - As fair as e’er were born, - The very pride of all the land, - Were dead before the morn. - - - PART III - - And the bonny May of the Moril Glen - Is weeping in despair, - For she saw the hills of fair Scotland, - Could be her home nae mair. - - Then there were chariots came o’er night, - As silent and as soon - As shadow of ane little cloud - In the wan light of the moon. - - Some said they came out of the rock, - And some out of the sea; - And some said they were sent from Hell - To bring that fair Ladye. - - The fairest flower of mortal frame - Passed from the Moril Glen; - And ne’er may such a deadly eye - Shine amongst Christian men! - - In seven chariots, gilded bright, - The train went o’er the fell, - All wrapt within ane shower of hail; - Whither no man could tell. - - But there was a Ship in the Firth of Forth, - The like ne’er sailed the faeme, - For no man of her country knew, - Her colours, or her name. - - Her mast was made of beaten gold, - Her sails of the silken twine, - And a thousand pennons streamed behind, - And trembled o’er the brine. - - As she lay mirrored in the main, - It was a comely view, - So many rainbows round her played - With every breeze that blew. - - And the hailstone shroud it rattled loud, - Right over ford and fen, - And swathed the flower of the Moril Glen - From eyes of sinful men. - - And the hailstone shroud it wheeled and rowed, - As wan as death unshriven, - Like dead cloth of ane Angel grim, - Or winding sheet of Heaven. - - It was a fearsome sight to see - Toil through the morning grey, - And whenever it reached the comely Ship, - She set sail and away. - - She set her sail before the gale, - As it began to sing, - And she heaved and rocked down the tide, - Unlike an earthly thing. - - The dolphins fled out of her way - Into the creeks of Fife, - And the blackguard seals, they yowlit for dread, - And swam for death and life. - - But aye the Ship, the bonny Ship - Out o’er the green wave flew, - Swift as the solan on the wing, - Or terrified sea-mew. - - No billow breasted on her prow, - Nor levelled on the lee; - She seemed to sail upon the air, - And never touch the sea. - - And away, and away went the bonny Ship, - Which man never more did see; - But whether she went to Heaven or Hell, - Was ne’er made known to me. - - _The Ettrick Shepherd. (Condensed)_ - - -THE LAIDLEY WORM O’ SPINDLESTON-HEUGHS - - - PART I - - The King is gone from Bambrough Castle, - Long may the Princess mourn; - Long may she stand on the Castle wall, - Looking for his return. - - She has knotted the keys upon a string, - And with her she has them taen, - She has cast them o’er her left shoulder, - And to the gate she is gane. - - She tripped out, she tripped in, - She tript into the yard; - But it was more for the King’s sake, - Than for the Queen’s regard. - - It fell out on a day, the King - Brought the Queen with him home; - And all the Lords in our country, - To welcome them did come. - - “Oh welcome, Father!” the Lady cries, - “Unto your halls and bowers; - And so are you, my Stepmother, - For all that is here is yours.” - - A Lord said, wondering while she spake, - “This Princess of the North - Surpasses all of female kind - In beauty and in worth.” - - The envious Queen replied, “At least, - You might have excepted me: - In a few hours I will her bring - Down to a low degree. - - “I will her liken to a Laidley Worm, - That warps about the stone, - And not till Childy Wynd comes back, - Shall she again be won.” - - - PART II - - The Princess stood at the bower-door, - Laughing, who could her blame? - But e’er the next day’s sun went down, - A long Worm she became. - - For seven miles East, and seven miles West, - And seven miles North, and South, - No blade of grass or corn could grow, - So venomous was her mouth. - - The milk of seven stately cows-- - It was costly her to keep-- - Was brought her daily, which she drank - Before she went to sleep. - - At this day may be seen the cave - Which held her folded up, - And the stone trough--the very same-- - Out of which she did sup. - - Word went East, and word went West, - And word is gone over the sea, - That a Laidley Worm in Spindleston-Heughs, - Would ruin the North Countrie. - - Word went East, and word went West, - And over the sea did go; - The Child of Wynd got wit of it, - Which filled his heart with woe. - - He called straight his merry men all, - They thirty were and three: - “I wish I were at Spindleston, - This desperate Worm to see. - - “We have no time now here to waste, - Hence quickly let us sail: - My only sister Margaret - Something, I fear, doth ail.” - - They built a ship without delay, - With masts of the Rowan-Tree, - With fluttering sails of silk so fine, - And set her on the sea. - - They went aboard; the wind with speed, - Blew them along the deep; - At length they spied an huge square tower - On a rock high and steep. - - The sea was smooth, the weather clear; - When they approached nigher, - King Ida’s Castle they well knew, - And the banks of Bambroughshire. - - - PART III - - The Queen looked out at her bower-window, - To see what she could see; - There she espied a gallant ship - Sailing upon the sea. - - When she beheld the silken sails, - Full glancing in the sun, - To sink the ship she sent away - Her Witch Wives every one. - - Their spells were vain; the Hags returned - To the Queen in sorrowful mood, - Crying, that Witches have no power - Where there is Rowan-Tree wood. - - Her last effort, she sent a boat, - Which in the haven lay, - With armed men to board the ship, - But they were driven away. - - The Worm leapt up, the Worm leapt down, - She plaited round the stane; - And aye, as the ship came to the land, - She banged it off again. - - The Child then ran out of her reach - The ship on Budle-sand; - And jumping into the shallow sea, - Securely got to land. - - And now he drew his berry-brown sword, - And laid it on her head; - And swore, if she did harm to him, - That he would strike her dead. - - “Oh! quit thy sword, and bend thy bow, - And give me kisses three; - For though I am a poisonous Worm, - No hurt I will do to thee. - - “Oh! quit thy sword, and bend thy bow, - And give me kisses three; - If I am not won e’er the sun go down, - Won I shall never be.” - - He quitted his sword, he bent his bow, - He gave her kisses three: - She crept into a hole a Worm, - But stept out a Lady. - - No clothing had this Lady fine, - To keep her from the cold; - He took his mantle from him about, - And round her did it fold. - - He has taken his mantle from him about, - And it he wrapt her in, - And they are up to Bambrough Castle, - As fast as they can win. - - - PART IV - - His absence and her serpent-shape, - The King had long deplored; - He now rejoiced to see them both - Again to him restored. - - The Queen they wanted, whom they found - All pale and sore afraid, - Because she knew her power must yield - To Childy Wynd’s, who said:-- - - “Woe be to thee, thou wicked Witch, - An ill death mayest thou dee; - As thou my sister hast likened, - So likened shalt thou be. - - “I will turn you into a Toad, - That on the ground doth wend; - And won, won, shalt thou never be, - Till this world hath an end.” - - * * * * * - - Now on the sand near Ida’s tower, - She crawls a loathsome Toad, - And venom spits on every maid - She meets upon her road. - - The virgins all of Bambrough town, - Will swear that they have seen - This spiteful Toad, of monstrous size, - Whilst walking they have been. - - All folks believe within the shire, - This story to be true; - And they all run to Spindleston, - The cave and trough to view. - - This fact now Duncan Frasier, - Of Cheviot, sings in rhyme, - Lest Bambroughshire men should forget - Some part of it in time. - - - - -MERRY GESTES - - - - -A TRAGIC STORY - - _There lived a sage in days of yore, - And he a handsome pigtail wore; - But wondered much, and sorrowed more, - Because it hung behind him._ - - _He mused upon this curious case, - And swore he’d change the pigtail’s place, - And have it hanging at his face. - Not dangling there behind him._ - - _Says he, “The mystery I’ve found,-- - I’ll turn me round,”--he turned him round; - But still it hung behind him._ - - _Then round and round, and out and in, - All day the puzzled sage did spin; - In vain--it mattered not a pin-- - The pigtail hung behind him._ - - _And right, and left, and round about, - And up, and down, and in, and out - He turned; but still the pigtail stout - Hung steadily behind him._ - - _And though his efforts never slack, - And though he twist, and twirl, and tack, - Alas! still faithful to his back, - The pigtail hangs behind him._ - - _William Makepeace Thackeray - From Chamisso_ - -[Illustration: HE TURNED HIM ROUND; BUT STILL IT HUNG BEHIND HIM] - - -LITTLE BILLEE - - There were three sailors of Bristol city, - Who took a boat and went to sea. - But first with beef and captain’s biscuits - And pickled pork they loaded she. - - There was gorging Jack and guzzling Jimmy, - And the youngest he was little Billee. - Now when they got as far as the Equator - They’d nothing left but one split pea. - - Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy, - “I am extremely hungaree.” - To gorging Jack says guzzling Jimmy, - “We’ve nothing left, us must eat we.” - - Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy, - “With one another we shouldn’t agree! - There’s little Bill, he’s young and tender, - We’re old and tough, so let’s eat he. - - “Oh! Billy, we’re going to kill and eat you, - So undo the button of your chemie.” - When Bill received this information, - He used his pocket handkerchie. - - “First let me say my catechism, - Which my poor mammy taught to me.” - “Make haste, make haste,” says guzzling Jimmy, - While Jack pulled out his snickersnee. - - So Billy went up to the main top-gallant mast, - And down he fell on his bended knee. - He scarce had come to the twelfth commandment - When up he jumps. “There’s land I see: - - “Jerusalem and Madagascar, - And North and South Amerikee: - There’s the British flag a-riding at anchor, - With Admiral Napier, K. C. B.” - - So when they got aboard of the Admiral’s, - He hanged fat Jack and flogged Jimmee; - But as for little Bill he made him - The Captain of a Seventy-three. - - _William Makepeace Thackeray_ - - -BRIAN O’LINN - - Brian O’Linn was a gentleman born, - His hair it was long and his beard unshorn, - His teeth were out and his eyes far in,-- - “I’m a wonderful beauty,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn was hard up for a coat, - He borrowed the skin of a neighbouring goat, - He buckled the horns right under his chin,-- - “They’ll answer for pistols,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn had no breeches to wear, - He got him a sheepskin to make him a pair, - With the fleshy side out and the woolly side in,-- - “They are pleasant and cool,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn had no hat to his head, - He stuck on a pot that was under the shed, - He murdered a cod for the sake of his fin,-- - “’T will pass for a feather,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn had no shirt to his back, - He went to a neighbour and borrowed a sack, - He puckered a meal-bag under his chin,-- - “They’ll take it for ruffles,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn had no shoes at all, - He bought an old pair at a cobbler’s stall, - The uppers were broken and the soles were thin,-- - “They’ll do me for dancing,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn had no watch for to wear, - He bought a fine turnip, and scooped it out fair, - He slipped a live cricket right under the skin,-- - “They’ll think it is ticking,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn was in want of a brooch, - He stuck a brass pin in a big coackroach, - The breast of his shirt he fixed it straight in,-- - “They’ll think it’s a diamond,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn went a-courting one night, - He set both the mother and daughter to fight,-- - “Stop! stop!” he exclaimed, “if you have but the tin, - I’ll marry you both,” says Brian O’Linn! - - Brian O’Linn went to bring his wife home, - He had but one horse, that was all skin and bone, - “I’ll put her behind me, as nate as a pin, - And her mother before me,” says Brian O’Linn. - - Brian O’Linn and his wife and wife’s mother, - They all crossed over the bridge together, - The bridge broke down and they all tumbled in,-- - “We’ll go home by water,” says Brian O’Linn! - - -DICKY OF BALLYMAN - - On New Year’s Day, as I heard say, - Dicky he saddled his dapple grey; - He put on his Sunday clothes, - His scarlet vest, and his new made hose. - _Diddle dum di, diddle dum do, - Diddle dum di, diddle dum do!_ - - He rode till he came to Wilson Hall, - There he rapped, and loud did call; - Mistress Ann came down straightway, - And asked him what he had to say. - - “Don’t you know me, Mistress Ann? - I am Dicky of Ballyman; - An honest lad, though I am poor,-- - I never was in love before. - - “I have an uncle, the best of friends, - Sometimes to me a fat rabbit he sends; - And many other dainty fowl, - To please my life, my joy, my soul. - - “Sometimes I reap, sometimes I mow, - And to the market I do go, - To sell my father’s corn and hay,-- - I earn my sixpence every day!” - - “Oh, Dicky! you go beneath your mark,-- - You only wander in the dark; - Sixpence a day will never do, - I must have silks, and satins, too! - - “Besides, Dicky, I must have tea - For my breakfast, every day; - And after dinner a bottle of wine,-- - For without it I cannot dine.” - - “If on fine clothes our money is spent, - Pray how shall my lord be paid his rent? - He’ll expect it when ’tis due,-- - Believe me, what I say is true. - - “As for tea, good stirabout - Will do far better, I make no doubt; - And spring water, when you dine, - Is far wholesomer than wine. - - “Potatoes, too, are very nice food,-- - I don’t know any half so good: - You may have them boiled or roast, - Whichever way you like them most.” - - This gave the company much delight, - And made them all to laugh outright; - So Dicky had no more to say, - But saddled his dapple and rode away. - _Diddle dum di, diddle dum do, - Diddle dum di, diddle dum do!_ - - -THE BALLAD OF THE OYSTERMAN - - It was a tall young Oysterman lived by the riverside, - His shop was just upon the bank, his boat was on the tide; - The daughter of a Fisherman, that was so straight and slim, - Lived over on the other bank, right opposite to him. - - It was the pensive Oysterman that saw a lovely maid, - Upon a moonlight evening, a-sitting in the shade; - He saw her wave her handkerchief, as much as if to say, - “I’m wide awake, young Oysterman, and all the folks away.” - - Then up arose the Oysterman, and to himself said he, - “I guess I’ll leave the skiff at home, for fear that folks should - see; - I read it in the story-book, that, for to kiss his dear, - Leander swam the Hellespont,--and I will swim this here.” - - And he has leaped into the waves, and crossed the shining stream, - And he has clambered up the bank, all in the moonlight gleam; - Oh! there were kisses sweet as dew, and words as soft as rain,-- - But they have heard her father’s step, and in he leaps again! - - Out spoke the ancient Fisherman,--“Oh! what as that, my daughter?” - “’T was nothing but a pebble, sir, I threw into the water.” - “And what is that, pray tell me, love, that paddles off so fast?” - “It’s nothing but a porpoise, sir, that’s been a swimming past.” - - Out spoke the ancient Fisherman,--“Now bring me my harpoon! - I’ll get into my fishing-boat, and fix the fellow soon.” - Down fell that pretty innocent, as falls a snow-white lamb, - Her hair drooped round her pallid cheeks, like seaweed on a clam. - - Alas, for those two loving ones! she waked not from her swound, - And he was taken with the cramp, and in the waves was drowned; - But Fate has metamorphosed them, in pity of their woe, - And now they keep an oyster-shop for Mermaids down below. - - _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ - - -THE CINDER KING - - Who is it that sits in the kitchen and weeps, - While tick goes the clock, and the tabby-cat sleeps,-- - That watches the grate, without ceasing to spy - Whether purses or coffins will out of it fly? - - ’Tis Betty; who saw the false tailor, Bob Scott, - Lead a bride to the altar, which bride she was not. - ’Tis Betty, determined love from her to fling, - And woo, for his riches, the dark Cinder-King. - - Now spent tallow-candle-grease fattened the soil, - And the blue-burning lamp had half wasted its oil, - And the black-beetle boldly came crawling from far, - And the red coals were sinking beneath the third bar; - - When _“one!”_ struck the clock--and instead of the bird - Who used to sing cuckoo whene’er the clock stirred, - Out burst a grim raven, and uttered _“caw! caw!”_ - While Puss, though she woke, durst not put forth a claw. - - Then the jack fell a-going as if one should sup, - Then the earth rocked as though it would swallow one up; - With fuel from Hell, a strange coal-scuttle came, - And a self-handled poker made fearful the flame. - - A cinder shot from it, of size to amaze, - With a bounce, such as Betty ne’er heard in her days, - Thrice, serpent-like, hissed as its heat fled away, - And, lo! something dark in a vast coffin lay! - - “Come, Betty,” quoth croaking that nondescript thing, - “Come, bless the fond arms of your true Cinder-King! - Three more Kings, my brothers, are waiting to greet ye, - Who--don’t take it ill--must at four o’clock eat ye. - - “My darling! it must be, do make up your mind; - We element brothers, united, and kind, - Have a feast and a wedding, each night of our lives, - So constantly sup on each other’s new wives.” - - In vain squalled the cook-maid, and prayed not to wed; - Cinder crunched in her mouth, cinder rained on her head. - She sank in the coffin with cinders strewn o’er, - And coffin nor Betty saw man any more. - - _Modern, anon._ - - -THE FROLICKSOME DUKE; OR, THE TINKER’S GOOD FORTUNE - - Now, as fame does report, a young Duke keeps a Court, - One that pleases his fancy with frolicksome sport: - But amongst all the rest, here is one, I protest, - Which will make you to smile when you hear the true jest: - A poor Tinker he found, lying drunk on the ground, - As secure in a sleep as if laid in a swound. - - The Duke said to his men, “William, Richard, and Ben, - Take him home to my palace; we’ll sport with him then.” - O’er a horse he was laid, and with care soon conveyed - To the palace, altho’ he was poorly arrai’d: - Then they stript off his cloaths, both his shirt, shoes, and hose, - And they put him to bed for to take his repose. - - Having pulled off his shirt, which was all over durt, - They did give him clean holland, this was no great hurt: - On a bed of soft down, like a lord of renown, - They did lay him to sleep the drink out of his crown. - In the morning, when day, then admiring he lay, - For to see the rich chamber, both gaudy and gay. - - Now he lay something late, in his rich bed of state, - Till at last Knights and Squires they on him did wait; - And the chamberling bare, then did likewise declare, - He desired to know what apparel he’d ware: - The poor Tinker amazed, on the gentleman gazed, - And admired how he to this honour was raised. - - Tho’ he seemed something mute, yet he chose a rich suit, - Which he straitways put on without longer dispute; - With a star on his side, which the Tinker off’t eyed, - And it seemed for to swell him no little with pride; - For he said to himself, “Where is Joan my sweet wife? - Sure she never did see me so fine in her life.” - - From a convenient place, the right Duke, his good grace, - Did observe his behaviour in every case. - To a garden of state, on the Tinker they wait, - Trumpets sounding before him: thought he, “This is great!” - Where an hour or two, pleasant walks he did view, - With Commanders and Squires in scarlet and blew. - - A fine dinner was drest, both for him and his guests, - He was placed at the table above all the rest, - In a rich chair or bed lined with fine crimson red, - With a rich golden canopy over his head: - As he sat at his meat, the musick played sweet, - With the choicest of singing his joys to compleat. - - While the Tinker did dine, he had plenty of wine, - Rich canary, with sherry and tent superfine. - Like a right honest soul, faith, he took off his bowl. - Till at last he began for to tumble and roul - From his chair to the floor, where he sleeping did snore, - Being seven times drunker than ever before. - - Then the Duke did ordain, they should strip him amain, - And restore him his old leather garments again: - ’T was a point next the worst, yet perform it they must, - And they carryed him strait where they found him at first: - Then he slept all the night, as indeed well he might; - But when he did waken, his joys took their flight. - - For his glory to him so pleasant did seem, - That he thought it to be but a meer golden dream; - Till at length he was brought to the Duke, where he sought - For a pardon, as fearing he had set him at nought: - But his Highness he said, “Thou’rt a jolly bold blade: - Such a frolick before, I think, never was plaid.” - - Then his Highness bespoke him a new suit and cloak, - Which he gave for the sake of this frolicksome joak: - Nay, and five-hundred pound, with ten acres of ground: - “Thou shalt never,” said he, “range the counteries round, - Crying ‘old brass to mend,’ for I’ll be thy good friend, - Nay, and Joan thy sweet wife shall my Duchess attend.” - - Then the Tinker replyed; “What! must Joan my sweet bride - Be a Lady in chariots of pleasure to ride? - Must we have gold and land ev’ry day at command? - Then I shall be a Squire, I well understand: - Well I thank your good grace, and your love I embrace; - I was never before in so happy a case!” - - -KING JAMES THE FIRST AND THE TINKLER - - And now, to be brief, let’s pass over the rest, - Who seldom or never were given to jest, - And come to King Jamie, the first of our throne, - A pleasanter Monarch sure never was known. - - As he was a-hunting the swift fallow-deer, - He dropped all his nobles; and when he got clear, - In hope of some pastime away he did ride, - Till he came to an alehouse, hard by a wood-side. - - And there with a Tinkler he happened to meet, - And him in kind sort he so freely did greet: - “Pray thee, good fellow, what hast in thy jug, - Which under thy arm thou dost lovingly hug?” - - “By the mass!” quoth the Tinkler, “it’s nappy brown ale, - And for to drink to thee, friend, I will not fail; - For although thy jacket looks gallant and fine, - I think that my twopence as good is as thine.” - - “By my soul! honest fellow, the truth thou hast spoke,” - And straight he sat down with the Tinkler to joke; - They drank to the King, and they pledged to each other; - Who’d seen ’em had thought they were brother and brother. - - As they were a-drinking the King pleased to say, - “What news, honest fellow? come tell me, I pray?” - “There’s nothing of news, beyond that I hear - The King’s on the border a-chasing the deer. - - “And truly I wish I so happy may be - Whilst he is a-hunting the King I might see; - For although I’ve travelled the land many ways - I never have yet seen a King in my days.” - - The King, with a hearty brisk laughter, replied - “I tell thee, good fellow, if thou canst but ride, - Thou shalt get up behind me, and I will thee bring - To the presence of Jamie, thy sovereign King.” - - “But he’ll be surrounded with nobles so gay, - And how shall we tell him from them, sir, I pray?” - “Thou’lt easily ken him when once thou art there; - The King will be covered, his nobles all bare.” - - He got up behind him and likewise his sack, - His budget of leather, and tools at his back; - They rode till they came to the merry Greenwood, - His nobles came round him, bareheaded they stood. - - The Tinkler then seeing so many appear, - He slily did whisper the King in his ear; - Saying, “They’re all clothed so gloriously gay, - But which amongst them is the King, sir, I pray?” - - The King did with hearty good laughter, reply, - “By my soul! my good fellow, it’s thou or it’s I! - The rest are bareheaded, uncovered all round”-- - With his bag and his budget he fell to the ground, - - Like one that was frightened quite out of his wits, - Then on his knees he instantly gets, - Beseeching for mercy; the King to him said, - “Thou art a good fellow, so be not afraid. - - “Come, tell thy name.” “I am John of the Dale, - A mender of kettles, a lover of ale.” - “Rise up, Sir John, I will honour thee here,-- - I make thee a Knight of three thousand a year!” - - This was a good thing for the Tinkler indeed; - Then unto the Court he was sent for with speed, - Where great store of pleasure and pastime was seen, - In the royal presence of King and of Queen. - - Sir John of the Dale he has land, he has fee, - At the Court of the King who so happy as he? - Yet still in his hall hangs the Tinkler’s old sack, - And the budget of tools which he bore at his back. - - -KING ALFRED AND THE SHEPHERD - - - PART I--WHEREIN KING ALFRED FIGHTS FOR HIS DINNER - - In elder time there was of yore, - When gibes of churlish glee - Were used among our country carles, - Tho’ no such thing now be: - - The which King Alfred liking well, - Forsook his stately Court, - And in disguise unknown went forth - To see that jovial sport; - - How Dick and Tom in clouted shoon, - And coats of russet grey, - Esteemed themselves more brave than them - That went in golden ray. - - In garments fit for such a life - The good King Alfred went, - Ragged and torn as from his back - The beggar his clothes had rent. - - A sword and buckler good and strong, - To give Jack Sauce a rap; - And on his head, instead of a crown, - He wore a Monmouth cap. - - Thus coasting thorough Somersetshire: - Near Newton-Court he met - A shepherd swain of lusty limb, - That up and down did jet: - - He wore a bonnet of good grey, - Close-buttoned to his chin; - And at his back a leather scrip, - With much good meat therein. - - “God speed, good Shepherd,” quoth the King - “I come to be thy guest, - To taste of thy good victuals here, - And drink that’s of the best. - - “Thy scrip, I know hath cheer good store”: - “What then?” the Shepherd said, - “Thou seem’st to be some sturdy thief, - And mak’st me sore afraid. - - “Yet if thou wilt thy dinner win, - Thy sword and buckler take: - And, if thou canst, into my scrip - Therewith an entrance make. - - “I tell thee, roister, it hath store - Of beef and bacon fat, - With sheaves of barley-bread to make - Thy chaps to water at! - - “Here stands my bottle, here my bag, - If thou canst win them, roister; - Against thy sword and buckler here, - My sheep-hook is my master.” - - _“Benedicite!”_ quoth our good King - “It never shall be said, - That Alfred, of the Shepherd’s hook, - Will stand a whit afraid.” - - So foundly thus they both fell to ‘t, - And giving bang for bang; - At ev’ry blow the Shepherd gave - King Alfred’s sword cried _twang_! - - His buckler proved his chiefest fence; - For still the Shepherd’s hook - Was that the which King Alfred could - In no good manner brook. - - At last, when they had fought four hours, - And it grew just midday, - And wearied both, with right good will, - Desired each other’s stay: - - “A truce, I crave,” quoth Alfred then - “Good Shepherd, hold thy hand, - A sturdier fellow than thyself - Lives not within the land!” - - “Nor a lustier roister than thou art,” - The churlish Shepherd said; - “To tell thee plain, thy thievish look - Now makes my heart afraid. - - “Else sure thou art some prodigal, - Which hast consumed thy store, - And now com’st wand’ring in this place - To rob and steal for more.” - - “Deem not of me, then,” quoth our King, - “Good Shepherd, in this sort. - A gentleman well known I am - In good King Alfred’s Court.” - - - PART II--WHEREIN KING ALFRED BECOMES A SHEPHERD - - “The Devil thou art!” the Shepherd said, - “Thou go’st in rags all torn; - Thou rather seem’st, I think, to be - Some beggar basely born. - - “But if thou wilt mend thy estate, - And here a shepherd be; - At night, to Gillian, my sweet wife, - Thou shalt go home with me: - - “For she’s as good a toothless dame - As mumbleth on brown bread; - Where thou shalt lie in hurden sheets, - Upon a fresh straw bed. - - “Of whig and whey we have good store, - And keep good pease-straw fire; - And now and then good barley cakes, - As better days require. - - “But for my master, which is Chief - And Lord of Newton-Court, - He keeps, I say, his shepherd swains - In far more braver sort; - - “We there have curds and clouted cream - Of red cow’s morning milk; - And now and then fine buttered cakes - As soft as any silk. - - “Of beef and reifed bacon store, - That is most fat and greasy, - We have likewise, to feed our chaps - And make them glib and easy. - - “Thus if thou wilt my man become, - This usage thou shalt have; - If not, adieu; go hang thyself; - And so farewell, Sir Knave.” - - King Alfred hearing of this glee - The churlish Shepherd said, - Was well content to be his man; - So they a bargain made; - - A penny round the Shepherd gave - In earnest of this match, - To keep his sheep in field and fold, - As shepherds use to watch. - - His wages shall be full ten groats, - For service of a year, - Yet was it not his use, old lad, - To hire a man so dear: - - “For, did the King himself,” quoth he, - “Unto my cottage come, - He should not, for a twelve-month’s pay, - Receive a greater sum.” - - - PART III--WHEREIN KING ALFRED BURNS THE CAKES - - Hereat the bonny King grew blithe, - To hear the clownish jest; - How silly sots, as custom is, - Do descant at the best. - - But not to spoil the foolish sport, - He was content, good King, - To fit the Shepherd’s humour right - In ev’ry kind of thing. - - A sheep-hook then, with Patch his dog, - And tar-box by his side; - He, with his master, cheek by jowl, - Unto old Gillian hied, - - Into whose sight no sooner come, - “Whom have you here?” quoth she, - “A fellow, I doubt, will cut our throats, - So like a knave looks he.” - - “Not so, old Dame,” quoth Alfred straight, - “Of me you need not fear; - My master hired me for ten groats, - To serve you one whole year: - - “So, good Dame Gillian, grant me leave - Within your house to stay; - For, by St. Anne, do what you can, - I will not yet away.” - - Her churlish usage pleased him still, - And put him to such proof, - That he at night was almost choked - Within that smoky roof. - - But as he sat with smiling cheer - The event of all to see, - His dame brought forth a piece of dough - Which in the fire throws she. - - Where lying on the hearth to bake, - By chance, the cake did burn: - “What! canst thou not, thou lout,” quoth she, - “Take pains the same to turn? - - “Thou art more quick to take it out, - And eat it up half dough, - Than thus to stay till’t be enough, - And so thy manners show! - - “But serve me such another trick, - I’ll thwack thee on the snout:” - Which made the patient King, poor man, - Of her to stand in doubt. - - - PART IV--WHEREIN KING ALFRED BLOWS HIS BUGLE-HORN - - But, to be brief, to bed they went - The old man and his wife; - But never such a lodging had - King Alfred in his life! - - For he was laid in white sheep’s wool, - New-pulled from tanned fells; - And o’er his head hanged spiders’ webs - As if they had been bells. - - “Is this the country guise?” thought he, - “Then here I will not stay, - But hence be gone, as soon as breaks - The peeping of next day!” - - The cackling hens and geese kept roost, - And perched at his side; - Where, at the last, the watchful cock - Made known the morning tide. - - Then up got Alfred, with his horn, - And blew so long a blast, - That it made Gillian and her groom, - In bed, full sore aghast. - - “Arise,” quoth she, “We are undone! - This night we lodged have, - At unawares, within our house, - A false dissembling knave. - - “Rise! husband, rise! he’ll cut our throats! - He calleth for his mates. - I’d give, old Will, our good cade lamb, - He would depart our gates!” - - But still King Alfred blew his horn, - Before them, more and more, - Till that an hundred Lords and Knights - All lighted at the door. - - Who cried, “All hail! all hail, good King! - Long have we sought your Grace!” - “And here you find, my merry men all, - Your Sov’reign in this place.” - - “We surely must be hanged up both, - Old Gillian, I much fear,” - The Shepherd said, “for using thus, - Our good King Alfred here.” - - “Oh, pardon, my Liege!” quoth Gillian then, - “For my husband, and for me. - By these ten bones, I never thought - The same that now I see!” - - “And by my hook,” the Shepherd said, - “An oath both good and true! - Before this time, O noble King, - I ne’er your Highness knew! - - “Then pardon me and my old wife, - That we may after say, - When first you came into our house, - It was a happy day.” - - “It shall be done,” said Alfred straight, - “And Gillian, thy old dame, - For this her churlish using me, - Deserveth not much blame; - - “For ’tis thy country guise, I see, - To be thus bluntish still, - And where the plainest meaning is, - Remains the smallest ill. - - “And, Master, lo! I tell thee now; - For thy late manhood shown, - A thousand wethers I’ll bestow - Upon thee, for thy own; - - “And pasture-ground, as much as will - Suffice to feed them all: - And this thy cottage, I will change - Into a stately hall.” - - “And for the same, as duty binds,” - The Shepherd said, “good King, - A milk-white lamb, once ev’ry year, - I’ll to your Highness bring: - - “And Gillian, my wife, likewise, - Of wool to make you coats, - Will give you as much at New Year’s tide, - As shall be worth ten groats. - - “And in your praise my bag-pipes shall - Sound sweetly once a year, - How Alfred, our renowned King, - Most kindly hath been here.” - - “Thanks, Shepherd, thanks,” quoth he again: - “The next time I come hither, - My Lords with me, here in this house, - Will all be merry together.” - - - - -SAD GESTES - - - - -THE SANDS OF DEE - - _“O Mary, go and call the cattle home, - And call the cattle home, - And call the cattle home - Across the sands of Dee;” - The western wind was wild and dank wi’ foam, - And all alone went she._ - - _The western tide crept up along the sand. - And o’er and o’er the sand, - And round and round the sand, - As far as eye could see. - The rolling mist came down and hid the land-- - And never home came she._ - - _“Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair-- - A tress o’ golden hair, - A drowned maiden’s hair - Above the nets at sea? - Was never salmon yet that shone so fair - Among the stakes on Dee.”_ - - _They rowed her in across the rolling foam. - The cruel crawling foam. - The cruel hungry foam - To her grave beside the sea: - But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home - Across the sands of Dee!_ - - _Charles Kingsley_ - - -FAIR ANNY OF ROCH-ROYAL - - - PART I - - “O wha will shoe my fu fair foot? - An wha will glove my han? - An wha will lace my middle gimp - Wi the new made London ban? - - “Or wha will kemb my yallow hair, - Wi the new made silver kemb? - Or wha’ll be father to my young bairn, - Till Love Gregor come hame?” - - Her father shoed her fu fair foot, - Her mother glovd her han; - Her sister lac’d her middle gimp - Wi the new made London ban. - - Her brother kembd her yallow hair, - Wi the new made silver kemb, - But the king o heaven maun father her bairn, - Till Love Gregor come hame. - - “O gin I had a bony ship, - An men to sail wi me, - It’s I would gang to my true-love, - Since he winna come to me.” - - Her father’s gien her a bonny ship, - An sent her to the stran; - She’s tane her young son in her arms, - An turnd her back to the lan. - - She had na been o the sea saillin - About a month or more, - Till landed has she her bonny ship - Near her true-love’s door. - - The night was dark, an the win blew caul, - An her love was fast asleep, - An the bairn that was in her twa arms - Fu sair began to weep. - - Long stood she at her true-love’s door, - An lang tirld at the pin; - At length up gat his fa’se mither, - Says, “Wha’s that woud be in?” - - “O it is Anny of Roch-royal, - Your love, come oer the sea, - But an your young son in her arms; - So open the door to me.” - - “Awa, awa, you ill woman, - You’ve na come here for gude; - You’re but a witch, or wile warlock, - Or mermaid o the flude.” - - “I’m na a witch, or wile warlock, - Nor mermaiden,” said she; - “I’m but Fair Anny o Roch-royal; - O open the door to me.” - - “O gin ye be Anny o Roch-royal, - As I trust not ye be, - What taiken can ye gie that ever - I kept your company?” - - “O dinna ye mind, Love Gregor,” she says, - “Whan we sat at the wine, - How we changed the napkins frae our necks, - It’s na sae lang sin syne? - - “An yours was good, an good enough, - But nae sae good as mine; - For yours was o the cumbruk clear, - But mine was silk sae fine. - - “An dinna ye mind, Love Gregor,” she says, - “As we twa sat at dine, - How we changed the rings frae our fingers, - But ay the best was mine? - - “For yours was good, an good enough, - Yet nae sae good as mine; - For yours was of the good red gold, - But mine o the diamonds fine. - - “Sae open the door now, Love Gregor, - An open it wi speed, - Or your young son that is in my arms - For cauld will soon be dead.” - - “Awa, awa, you ill woman, - Gae frae my door for shame; - For I hae gotten another fair love, - Sae ye may hye you hame.” - - “O hae you gotten another fair love, - For a’ the oaths you sware? - Then fair you well now, fa’se Gregor, - For me you’s never see mair.” - - O heely, heely gi’d she back, - As the day began to peep; - She set her foot on good ship-board, - An sair, sair did she weep. - - - PART II - - Love Gregor started frae his sleep, - An to his mither did say, - “I dreamd a dream this night, mither, - That maks my heart right wae. - - “I dreamd that Anny of Roch-royal, - The flowr o a’ her kin, - Was standin mournin at my door, - But nane would lat her in.” - - “O there was a woman stood at the door, - Wi a bairn intill her arms, - But I woud na lat her within the bowr, - For fear she had done you harm.” - - O quickly, quickly raise he up, - An fast ran to the stran, - An there he saw her Fair Anny, - Was sailin frae the lan. - - An “Heigh, Anny!” an “Hou, Anny! - O Anny, speak to me!” - But ay the louder that he cried “Anny,” - The louder roard the sea. - - An “Heigh, Anny!” an “Hou, Anny! - O Anny, winna you bide?” - But ay the langer that he cried “Anny,” - The higher roard the tide. - - The win grew loud, an the sea grew rough, - An the ship was rent in twain, - An soon he saw her Fair Anny - Come floating oer the main. - - He saw his young son in her arms, - Baith tossd aboon the tide; - He wrang his hands, than fast he ran, - An plung’d i the sea sae wide. - - He catchd her by the yallow hair, - An drew her to the strand, - But cauld an stiff was every limb - Before he reachd the land. - - O first he kissd her cherry cheek,’ - An then he kissd her chin; - An sair he kissd her ruby lips, - But there was nae breath within. - - O he has mournd oer Fair Anny - Till the sun was gaing down, - Then wi a sigh his heart it brast, - An his soul to heaven has flown. - - -THE CRUEL SISTER - - There were two sisters sat in a bour, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - There came a knight to be their wooer; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - He courted the eldest with glove and ring, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - But he lo’ed the youngest abune a’ thing; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - He courted the eldest with broach and knife, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - But he lo’ed the youngest abune his life; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - The eldest she was vexed sair, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And sore envied her sister fair; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - The eldest said to the youngest ane, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - “Will ye go and see your father’s ships come in?”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - She’s ta’en her by the lily hand, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And led her down to the river strand; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - The youngest stude upon a stane, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - The eldest came and pushed her in; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - She took her by the middle sma’, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And dash’d her bonny back to the jaw; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “O sister, sister, reach your hand, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And ye shall be heir of half my land.”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “O sister, I’ll not reach my hand, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And I’ll be heir of all your land; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “Shame fa’ the hand that I should take, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - It’s twin’d me, and my world’s make.”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “O sister, reach me but your glove, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And sweet William shall be your love.”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “Sink on, nor hope for hand or glove! - Binnorie, O Binnorie: - And sweet William shall better be my love, - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “Your cherry cheeks and your yellow hair, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - Garr’d me gang maiden evermair.”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - Sometimes she sunk, and sometimes she swam, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - Until she cam to the miller’s dam; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “O father, father, draw your dam! - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - There’s either a mermaid, or a milk-white swan.”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - The miller hasted and drew his dam, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And there he found a drown’d woman; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - You could not see her yellow hair, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - For gowd and pearls that were sae rare; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - You could na see her middle sma’. - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - Her gowden girdle was sae bra’; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - A famous harper passing by, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - The sweet pale face he chanced to spy; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - And when he looked that lady on, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - He sigh’d and made a heavy moan; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - He made a harp of her breast-bone, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - Whose sounds would melt a heart of stone; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - The strings he framed of her yellow hair, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - Whose notes made sad the listening ear; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - He brought it to her father’s hall, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And there was the court assembled all; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - He laid this harp upon a stone, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And straight it began to play alone! - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “O yonder sits my father, the king, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And yonder sits my mother, the queen; - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - “And yonder stands my brother Hugh, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - And by him my William, sweet and true.”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - But the last tune that the harp play’d then, - Binnorie, O Binnorie; - Was--“Woe to my sister, false Helen!”-- - By the bonny milldams of Binnorie. - - -BARBARA ALLEN’S CRUELTY - - In Scarlet Town, where I was bound, - There was a fair maid dwelling, - Whom I had chosen to be my own, - And her name it was Barbara Allen. - - All in the merry month of May, - When green leaves they was springing, - This young man on his death-bed lay, - For the love of Barbara Allen. - - He sent his man unto her then, - To the town where she was dwelling: - “You must come to my master dear, - If your name be Barbara Allen. - - “For death is printed in his face, - And sorrow’s in him dwelling, - And you must come to my master dear, - If your name be Barbara Allen.” - - “If death be printed in his face, - And sorrow’s in him dwelling, - Then little better shall he be - For bonny Barbara Allen.” - - So slowly, slowly she got up, - And so slowly she came to him, - And all she said when she came there, - “Young man, I think you are a dying.” - - He turnd his face unto her then: - “If you be Barbara Allen, - My dear,” said he, “come pitty me, - As on my death-bed I am lying.” - - “If on your death-bed you be lying, - What is that to Barbara Allen? - I cannot keep you from your death; - So farewell,” said Barbara Allen. - - He turnd his face unto the wall, - And death came creeping to him: - “Then adieu, adieu, and adieu to all, - And adieu to Barbara Allen!” - - And as she was walking on a day, - She heard the bell a ringing, - And it did seem to ring to her - “Unworthy Barbara Allen.” - - She turnd herself round about, - And she spy’d the corps a coming: - “Lay down, lay down the corps of clay, - That I may look upon him.” - - And all the while she looked on, - So loudly she lay laughing, - While all her friends cry’d out amain, - “Unworthy Barbara Allen!” - - When he was dead, and laid in grave, - Then death came creeping to she: - “O mother, mother, make my bed, - For his death hath quite undone me. - - “A hard-hearted creature that I was, - To slight one that lovd me so dearly; - I wish I had been more kinder to him, - The time of his life when he was near me.” - - So this maid she then did dye, - And desired to be buried by him, - And repented her self before she dy’d, - That ever she did deny him. - - -SONG: EARL MARCH LOOKED ON HIS DYING CHILD - - Earl March looked on his dying child, - And, smit with grief to view her, - “The youth,” he cried, “whom I exiled - Shall be restored to woo her.” - - She’s at the window many an hour - His coming to discover: - And her Love looked up to Ellen’s bower, - And she looked on her Lover.-- - - But ah! so pale, he knew her not, - Though her smile on him was dwelling. - “And am I then forgot--forgot?” - It broke the heart of Ellen. - - In vain he weeps, in vain he sighs; - Her cheek is cold as ashes; - Nor Love’s own kiss shall wake those eyes - To lift their silken lashes. - - _Thomas Campbell_ - - -LORD LOVEL - - Lord Lovel he stood at his castle gate, - Combing his milk-white steed; - When up came Lady Nancy Belle, - To wish her lover good speed, speed, - To wish her lover good speed. - - “Where are you going, Lord Lovel?” she said, - “Oh! where are you going?” said she; - “I’m going, my Lady Nancy Belle, - Strange countries for to see, to see, - Strange countries for to see.” - - “When will you be back, Lord Lovel?” she said; - “Oh! when will you come back?” said she; - “In a year or two--or three, at the most, - I’ll return to my fair Nancy-cy, - I’ll return to my fair Nancy.” - - But he had not been gone a year and a day, - Strange countries for to see, - When languishing thoughts came into his head, - Lady Nancy Belle he would go see, see, - Lady Nancy Belle he would go see. - - So he rode, and he rode on his milk-white steed, - Till he came to London-town; - And there he heard St. Pancras’ bells, - And the people all mourning round, round, - And the people all mourning round. - - “Oh! what is the matter?” Lord Lovel he said, - “Oh! what is the matter?” said he; - “A Lord’s Lady is dead,” a woman replied, - “And some call her Lady Nancy-cy, - And some call her Lady Nancy.” - - So he ordered the grave to be opened wide, - And the shroud he turned down, - And there he kissed her clay-cold lips, - Till the tears came trickling down, down, - Till the tears came trickling down. - - Lady Nancy she died as it might be to-day, - Lord Lovel he died as to-morrow; - Lady Nancy she died out of pure, pure grief, - Lord Lovel he died out of sorrow, sorrow, - Lord Lovel he died out of sorrow. - - Lady Nancy was laid in St. Pancras’ church, - Lord Lovel was laid in the choir; - And out of her bosom there grew a red rose, - And out of her lover’s a brier, brier, - And out of her lover’s a brier. - - They grew, and they grew, to the church steeple, too, - And then they could grow no higher; - So there they entwined in a true lover’s knot, - For all lovers true to admire-mire, - For all lovers true to admire. - - - - -PRETTY MAYS AND KNIGHTS SO BOLD - - - - -THE NOBLE RIDDLE - - _“If thou canst answer me questions three, - This very day will I marry thee.”_ - - _“Kind sir, in love, O then,” quoth she, - “Tell me what your three questions be.”_ - - _“O what is longer than the way, - Or what is deeper than the sea?_ - - _“Or what is louder than the horn, - Or what is sharper than a thorn?_ - - _“Or what is greener than the grass, - Or what is worse than a woman was?”_ - - _“O love is longer than the way, - And hell is deeper than the sea._ - - _“And thunder is louder than the horn, - And hunger is sharper than a thorn._ - - _“And poyson is greener than the grass, - And the Devil is worse than woman was.”_ - - _When she these questions answered had, - The knight became exceeding glad._ - - _And having truly try’d her wit, - He much commended her for it._ - - _And after, as it is verifi’d, - He made of her his lovely bride._ - - _So now, fair maidens all, adieu, - This song I dedicate to you._ - - _I wish that you may constant prove - Vnto the man that you do love._ - - -BLANCHEFLOUR AND JELLYFLORICE - - - PART I - - There was a maid, richly arrayd, - In robes were rare to see, - For seven years and something mair - She servd a gay ladie. - - But being fond o a higher place, - In service she thought lang; - She took her mantle her about, - Her coffer by the band. - - And as she walkd by the shore-side, - As blythe’s a bird on tree, - Yet still she gaz’d her round about, - To see what she could see. - - At last she spied a little castle, - That stood near by the sea; - She spied it far and drew it near, - To that castle went she. - - And when she came to that castle - She tirled at the pin, - And ready stood a little wee boy - To lat this fair maid in. - - “O who’s the owner of this place, - O porter-boy, tell me;” - “This place belongs unto a queen - O birth and high degree.” - - She put her hand in her pocket, - And gae him shillings three: - “O porter, bear my message well - Unto the queen frae me.” - - The porter’s gane before the queen, - Fell low down on his knee: - “Win up, win up, my porter-boy, - What makes this courtesie?” - - “I hae been porter at your yetts, - My dame, these years full three, - But see a ladie at your yetts - The fairest my eyes did see.” - - “Cast up my yetts baith wide and braid, - Lat her come in to me, - And I’ll know by her courtesie - Lord’s daughter if she be.” - - When she came in before the queen, - Fell low down on her knee: - “Service frae you, my dame the queen, - I pray you grant it me.” - - “If that service ye now do want, - What station will ye be? - Can ye card wool, or spin, fair maid, - Or milk the cows to me?” - - “No, I can neither card nor spin, - Nor cows I canno milk, - But sit into a lady’s bower - And sew the seams o silk.” - - “What is your name, ye comely dame? - Pray tell this unto me:” - “O Blancheflour, that is my name, - Born in a strange countrie.” - - “O keep ye well frae Jellyflorice-- - My ain dear son is he-- - When other ladies get a gift, - O that ye shall get three.” - - - PART II - - It wasna tald into the bower - Till it went thro the ha, - That Jellyflorice and Blancheflour - Were grown ower great witha. - - When the queen’s maids their visits paid, - Upo the gude Yule-day, - When other ladies got horse to ride, - She boud take foot and gae. - - The queen she calld her stable-groom, - To come to her right seen; - Says, “Ye’ll take out yon wild waith steed - And bring him to the green. - - “Ye’ll take the bridle frae his head, - The lighters frae his een; - Ere she ride three times roun the cross, - Her weel-days will be dune.” - - Jellyflorice his true-love spy’d - As she rade roun the cross, - And thrice he kissd her lovely lips, - And took her frae her horse. - - “Gang to your bower, my lily-flower, - For a’ my mother’s spite; - There’s nae other amang her maids, - In whom I take delight. - - “Ye are my jewel, and only are, - Nane’s do you injury; - For ere this-day-month come and gang - My wedded wife ye’se be.” - - -GLENARA - - Oh! heard ye yon pibroch sound sad in the gale, - Where a band cometh slowly with weeping and wail? - ’Tis the Chief of Glenara laments for his dear, - And her sire and the people are called to her bier. - - Glenara came first, with the mourners and shroud; - Her kinsmen they followed, but mourned not aloud. - Their plaids all their bosoms were folded around; - They marched all in silence,--they looked on the ground. - - In silence they reached, over mountain and moor, - To a heath, where the oak-tree grew lonely and hoar; - “Now here let us place the grey stone of her cairn; - Why speak ye no word?”--said Glenara the stern. - - “And tell me, I charge you! ye clan of my spouse, - Why fold ye your mantles, why cloud ye your brows?” - So spake the rude chieftain:--no answer is made, - But each mantle unfolding a dagger displayed. - - “I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her shroud,” - Cried a voice from the kinsmen all, wrathful and loud: - “And empty that shroud and that coffin did seem; - Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!” - - Oh! pale grew the cheek of that chieftain, I ween, - When the shroud was unclosed and no lady was seen; - When a voice from the kinsmen spoke louder in scorn,-- - ’Twas the youth who had loved the fair Ellen of Lorn,-- - - “I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her grief; - I dreamt that her lord was a barbarous Chief; - On a rock of the ocean fair Ellen did seem; - Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!” - - In dust low the traitor has knelt to the ground; - And the desert revealed where his lady was found; - From a rock of the ocean that beauty is borne,-- - Now joy to the house of fair Ellen of Lorn! - - _Thomas Campbell_ - - -THE BEGGAR-MAID - - Her arms across her breast she laid; - She was more fair than words can say; - Barefooted came the Beggar-maid - Before the King Cophetua. - - In robe and crown the King stept down, - To meet and greet her on her way; - “It is no wonder,” said the Lords, - “She is more beautiful than day.” - - As shines the moon in clouded skies, - She in her poor attire was seen; - One praised her ankles, one her eyes, - One her dark hair and lovesome mien. - - So sweet a face, such angel grace, - In all that land had never been. - Cophetua sware a royal oath: - “This Beggar-maid shall be my Queen!” - - _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ - - -LOCHINVAR - - Oh! young Lochinvar is come out of the West; - Through all the wide border his steed was the best; - And save his good broadsword he weapons had none, - He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone. - So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, - There never was Knight like the young Lochinvar. - - He staid not for brake, and he stopped not for stone, - He swam the Eske river where ford there was none; - But ere he alighted at Netherby gate, - The bride had consented, the gallant came late; - For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war, - Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar. - - So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall, - Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers and all, - Then spoke the bride’s father, his hand on his sword, - --For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word-- - “Oh! come ye in peace here, or come ye in war, - Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?” - - “I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied;-- - Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide-- - And now am I come with this lost love of mine, - To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine, - There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far, - That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.” - - The bride kissed the goblet; the Knight took it up, - He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup. - She looked down to blush, and she looked up tosigh, - With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye. - He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar,-- - “Now tread we a measure,” said young Lochinvar. - - So stately his form, and so lovely her face, - That never a hall such a galliard did grace; - While her mother did fret, and her father did fume, - And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume; - And the bride-maidens whispered, “’T were better by far, - To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.” - - One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear, - When they reached the hall-door, and the charger stood near; - So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung, - So light to the saddle before her he sprung! - “She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, andscaur; - They’ll have fleet steeds that follow,” quoth young Lochinvar. - - There was mounting ’mong Græmes of the Netherby clan; - Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran; - There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lea, - But the lost bride of Netherby ne’er did they see. - So daring in love, and so dauntless in war, - Have ye e’er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar? - - _Sir Walter Scott_ - - -THE GAY GOSS-HAWK - - - PART I - - “O waly, waly, my gay goss-hawk, - Gin your feathering be sheen!”-- - “And waly, waly, my master dear, - Gin ye look pale and lean! - - “O have ye tint, at tournament, - Your sword, or yet your spear; - Or mourn ye for the southern lass, - Whom ye may not win near?”-- - - “I have not tint, at tournament, - My sword, nor yet my spear; - But sair I mourn for my true love, - Wi’ mony a bitter tear. - - “But weel’s me on ye, my gay goss-hawk, - Ye can baith speak and flee; - Ye sall carry a letter to my love, - Bring an answer back to me.”-- - - “But how sall I your true love find, - Or how suld I her know? - I bear a tongue ne’er wi’ her spake, - An eye that ne’er her saw.” - - “O weel sail ye my true love ken, - Sae sune as ye her see; - For, of a’ the flowers of fair England, - The fairest flower is she. - - “The red that’s on my true love’s cheek, - Is like blood-drops on the snaw; - The white that is on her breast bare, - Like the down o’ the white sea-maw. - - “And even at my love’s bour-door - There grows a flowering birk; - And ye maun sit and sing thereon - As she gangs to the kirk. - - “And four-and-twenty fair ladyes - Will to the mass repair; - But weel may ye my ladye ken, - The fairest ladye there.” - - - PART II - - Lord William has written a love-letter, - Put it under his pinion gray; - And he is awa to Southern land - As fast as wings can gae. - - And even at that ladye’s bour - There grew a flowering birk; - And he sat down and sung thereon - As she gaed to the kirk. - - And weel he kent that ladye fair - Amang her maidens free; - For the flower, that springs in May morning, - Was not sae sweet as she. - - He lighted at the ladye’s yate, - And sat him on a pin; - And sang fu’ sweet the notes o’ love, - Till a’ was cosh within. - - And first he sang a low low note, - And syne he sang a clear; - And aye the o’erword o’ the sang - Was--“Your love can no win here.” - - “Feast on, feast on, my maidens a’, - The wine flows you amang, - While I gang to my shot-window, - And hear yon bonny bird’s sang. - - “Sing on, sing on, my bonny bird, - The sang ye sung yestreen; - For weel I ken, by your sweet singing, - Ye are frae my true love sen.” - - O first he sang a merry sang, - And syne he sang a grave; - And syne he pecked his feathers gray, - To her the letter gave. - - “Have there a letter from lord William; - He says he’s sent ye three; - He canna wait your love langer, - But for your sake he’ll dee.”-- - - “Gae bid him bake his bridal bread, - And brew his bridal ale; - And I shall meet him at Mary’s kirk, - Lang, lang ere it be stale.” - - The lady’s gane to her chamber, - And a moanfu’ woman was she; - As gin she had ta’en a sudden brash, - And were about to dee. - - “A boon, a boon, my father dear, - A boon I beg of thee!”-- - “Ask not that paughty Scottish lord, - For him you ne’er shall see. - - “But, for your honest asking else, - Weel granted it shall be.”-- - “Then, gin I die in Southern land, - In Scotland gar bury me. - - “And the first kirk that ye come to, - Ye’s gar the mass be sung; - And the next kirk that ye come to, - Ye’s gar the bells be rung. - - “And when ye come to St. Mary’s kirk, - Ye’s tarry there till night.” - And so her father pledg’d his word, - And so his promise plight. - - - PART III - - She has ta’en her to her bigly bour - As fast as she could fare; - And she has drank a sleepy draught, - That she had mix’d wi’ care. - - And pale, pale grew her rosy cheek, - That was sae bright of blee, - And she seem’d to be as surely dead - As any one could be. - - Then spak her cruel step-minnie, - “Tak ye the burning lead, - And drap a drap on her bosome, - To try if she be dead.” - - They took a drap o’ boiling lead, - They drapp’d it on her breast; - “Alas! alas!” her father cried, - “She’s dead without the priest.” - - She neither chatter’d with her teeth, - Nor shiver’d with her chin; - “Alas! alas!” her father cried, - “There is nae breath within.” - - Then up arose her seven brethren. - And hew’d to her a bier; - They hew’d it frae the solid aik, - Laid it o’er wi’ silver clear. - - Then up and gat her seven sisters, - And sewed to her a kell; - And every steek that they put in - Sewed to a siller bell. - - The first Scots kirk that they cam to, - They garr’d the bells be rung; - The next Scots kirk that they cam to, - They garr’d the mass be sung. - - But when they cam to St. Mary’s kirk, - There stude spearmen all on a raw; - And up and started lord William, - The chieftane amang them a’. - - “Set down, set down the bier,” he said, - “Let me look her upon:” - But as soon as lord William touch’d her hand, - Her colour began to come. - - She brightened like the lily flower, - Till her pale colour was gone; - With rosy cheik, and ruby lip, - She smiled her love upon. - - “A morsel of your bread, my lord, - And one glass of your wine; - For I hae fasted these three lang days, - All for your sake and mine.-- - - “Gae hame, gae hame, my seven bauld brothers, - Gae hame and blaw your horn! - I trow ye wad hae gi’en me the skaith, - But I’ve gi’en you the scorn. - - “Commend me to my gray father, - That wished my saul gude rest; - But wae be to my cruel step-dame, - Garr’d burn me on the breast.”-- - - “Ah! woe to you, you light woman! - An ill death may you dee! - For we left father and sisters at hame - Breaking their hearts for thee.” - - -BONNY BABY LIVINGSTON - - - PART I - - O bonny Baby Livingston - Went forth to view the hay, - And by it came him Glenlion, - Sta bonny Baby away. - - O first he’s taen her silken coat, - And neest her satten gown, - Syne rowd her in a tartan plaid, - And hapd her round and rown, - - He has set her upon his steed - And roundly rode away, - And neer loot her look back again - The live-long summer’s day. - - He’s carried her oer hills and muirs - Till they came to a Highland glen, - And there he’s met his brother John, - With twenty armed men. - - O there were cows, and there were ewes, - And lasses milking there, - But Baby neer anse lookd about, - Her heart was filld wi care. - - Glenlion took her in his arms, - And kissd her, cheek and chin; - Says, “I’d gie a’ these cows and ewes - But ae kind look to win.” - - “O ae kind look ye neer shall get, - Nor win a smile frae me, - Unless to me you’ll favour shew, - And take me to Dundee.” - - “Dundee, Baby? Dundee, Baby? - Dundee you neer shall see - Till I’ve carried you to Glenlion - And have my bride made thee. - - “We’ll stay a while at Auchingour, - And get sweet milk and cheese, - And syne we’ll gang to Glenlion, - And there live at our ease.” - - “I winna stay at Auchingour, - Nor eat sweet milk and cheese, - Nor go with thee to Glenlion, - For there I’ll neer find ease.” - - Than out it spake his brother John, - “O were I in your place, - I’d take that lady hame again, - For a’ her bonny face. - - “Commend me to the lass that’s kind, - Tho na so gently born; - And, gin her heart I coudna gain, - To take her hand I’d scorn.” - - “O had your tongue now, John,” he says, - “You wis na what you say; - For I’ve lood that bonny face - This twelve month and a day. - - “And tho I’ve lood her lang and sair - A smile I neer coud win; - Yet what I’ve got anse in my power - To keep I think nae sin.” - - - PART II - - When they came to Glenlion castle, - They lighted at the yate, - And out it came his sisters three, - Wha did them kindly greet. - - O they’ve taen Baby by the hands - And led her oer the green, - And ilka lady spake a word, - But bonny Baby spake nane. - - Then out it spake her bonny Jean, - The youngest o the three, - “O lady, dinna look sae sad, - But tell your grief to me.” - - “O wherefore should I tell my grief, - Since lax I canna find? - I’m stown frae a’ my kin and friends, - And my love I left behind. - - “But had I paper, pen, and ink, - Before that it were day, - I yet might get a letter sent - In time to Johny Hay.” - - O she’s got paper, pen, and ink, - And candle that she might see, - And she has written a broad letter - To Johny at Dundee. - - And she has gotten a bonny boy, - That was baith swift and strang, - Wi philabeg and bonnet blue, - Her errand for to gang. - - “O boy, gin ye’d my blessing win - And help me in my need, - Run wi this letter to my love, - And bid him come wi speed. - - “And here’s a chain of good red gowd, - And gowdn guineas three, - And when you’ve well your errand done, - You’ll get them for your fee.” - - The boy he ran oer hill and dale, - Fast as a bird coud flee, - And eer the sun was twa hours height - The boy was at Dundee. - - And when he came to Johny’s door - He knocked loud and sair; - Then Johny to the window came, - And loudly cry’d, “Wha’s there?” - - “O here’s a letter I have brought, - Which ye maun quickly read, - And, gin ye woud your lady save, - Gang back wi me wi speed.” - - O when he had the letter read, - An angry man was he; - He says, “Glenlion, thou shalt rue - This deed of villany! - - “O saddle to me the black, the black, - O saddle to me the brown, - O saddle to me the swiftest steed - That eer rade frae the town. - - “And arm ye well, my merry men a’, - And follow me to the glen, - For I vow I’ll neither eat nor sleep - Till I get my love again.” - - He’s mounted on a milk-white steed, - The boy upon a gray, - And they got to Glenlion’s castle - About the close of day. - - As Baby at her window stood, - The west wind salt did bla; - She heard her Johny’s well-kent voice - Beneath the castle wa. - - “O Baby, haste, the window jump! - I’ll kep you in my arm; - My merry men a’ are at the yate, - To rescue you frae harm.” - - She to the window fixt her sheets - And slipped safely down, - And Johny catchd her in his arms, - Neer loot her touch the ground. - - When mounted on her Johny’s horse, - Fou blithely did she say, - “Glenlion, you hae lost your bride! - She’s aff wi Johny Hay.” - - - PART III - - Glenlion and his brother John - Were birling in the ha, - When they heard Johny’s bridle ring, - As first he rade awa. - - “Rise, Jock, gang out and meet the priest, - I hear his bridle ring; - My Baby now shall be my wife - Before the laverocks sing.” - - “O brother, this is not the priest; - I fear he’ll come oer late; - For armed men with shining brands - Stand at the castle-yate.” - - “Haste Donald, Duncan, Dugald, Hugh! - Haste, take your sword and spier! - We’ll gar these traytors rue the hour - That eer they ventured here.” - - The Highland men drew their claymores, - And gae a warlike shout, - But Johny’s merry men kept the yate, - Nae are durst venture out. - - The lovers rade the live-lang night, - And safe gat on their way, - And bonny Baby Livingston - Has gotten Johny Hay. - - “Awa, Glenlion! fy for shame! - Gae hide ye in some den! - You’ve lettn your bride be stown frae you, - For a’ your armed men.” - - -HYND HORN - - Near the King’s Court was a young child born, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And his name it was called Young Hynd Horn, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - Seven lang years he served the King, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And it’s a’ for the sake o’ his daughter Jean, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - The King an angry man was he, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - He sent Young Hynd Horn to the sea, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - Oh! his Love gave him a gay gold ring, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - With three shining diamonds set therein, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - “As lang as these diamonds keep their hue, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - Ye’ll know I am a lover true, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - “But when your ring turns pale and wan, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - Then I’m in love with another man, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_.” - - He’s gone to the sea and far away, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And he’s stayed for seven lang years and a day, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_: - - Seven lang years by land and sea, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And he’s aften looked how his ring may be, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - One day when he looked this ring upon, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - The shining diamonds were pale and wan, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - He hoisted sails, and hame cam’ he, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - Hame unto his ain countrie, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - He’s left the sea and he’s come to land, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And the first he met was an auld beggar-man, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - “What news, what news, my silly auld man? - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - For it’s seven lang years since I saw this land, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_.” - - “No news, no news,” doth the beggar-man say, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - “But our King’s ae daughter she’s wedded to-day, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_.” - - “Wilt thou give to me thy begging coat? - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And I’ll give to thee my scarlet cloak, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - “Give me your auld pike-staff, and hat, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And ye sall be right weel paid for that, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_.” - - The auld beggar-man cast off his coat, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - And he’s ta’en up the scarlet cloak, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - He’s gi’en him his auld pike-staff and hat, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And he was right weel paid for that, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - The auld beggar-man was bound for the mill, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - But Young Hynd Horn for the King’s ain hall, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - When he came to the King’s ain gate, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - He asked a drink for Young Hynd Horn’s sake, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - These news unto the bonny bride cam’, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - That at the gate there stands an auld man, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - There stands an auld man at the King’s gate, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - He asketh a drink for Young Hynd Horn’s sake, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - The Bride cam’ tripping down the stair, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - The combs o’ fine goud in her hair, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_; - - A cup o’ the red wine in her hand, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And that she gave to the beggar-man, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - Out o’ the cup he drank the wine, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And into the cup he dropt the ring, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - “O gat thou this by sea or by land? - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_. - Or gat thou it aff a dead man’s hand? - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie.”_. - - “I gat it neither by sea nor land, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - Nor gat I it from a dead man’s hand, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - “But I gat it at my wooing gay, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - And I gie it to you on your wedding-day, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie.”_ - - “I’ll cast aside my satin goun, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_. - And I’ll follow you frae toun to toun, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - “I’ll tak’ the fine goud frae my hair, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_, - And follow you forevermair, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_.” - - He let his cloutie cloak doun fa’, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - Young Hynd Horn shone above them a’, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_, - - The bridegroom thought he had her wed, - _With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan_; - But she is Young Hynd Horn’s instead, - _And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie_. - - _Arranged by William Allingham_ - - -YOUNG BEICHAN AND SUSIE PYE - - - PART I - - In London was young Beichan born, - He longed strange countries for to see; - But he was taen by a savage Moor, - Who handled him right cruellie; - - For he viewed the fashions of that land; - Their way of worship viewed he; - But to Mahound, or Termagant, - Would Beichan never bend a knee. - - So in every shoulder they’ve putten a bore; - In every bore they’ve putten a tree; - And they have made him trail the wine - And spices on his fair bodie. - - They’ve casten him in a dungeon deep, - Where he could neither hear nor see; - For seven years they kept him there, - Till he for hunger’s like to die. - - This Moor he had but ae daughter, - Her name was called Susie Pye; - And every day as she took the air, - Near Beichan’s prison she passed by. - - O so it fell, upon a day - She heard young Beichan sadly sing: - _My hounds they all go masterless; - My hawks they flee from tree to tree; - My younger brother will heir my land; - Fair England again I’ll never see!_ - - All night long no rest she got, - Young Beichan’s song for thinking on; - She’s stown the keys from her father’s head, - And to the prison strong is gone. - - And she has opend the prison doors, - I wot she opend two or three, - Ere she could come young Beichan at, - He was locked up so curiouslie. - - But when she came young Beichan before, - Sore wonderd he that may to see; - He took her for some fair captive;-- - “Fair Lady, I pray, of what countrie?” - - “O have ye any lands,” she said, - “Or castles in your own countrie, - That ye could give to a lady fair, - From prison strong to set you free?” - - “Near London town I have a hall, - With other castles two or three; - I’ll give them all to the lady fair - That out of prison will set me free.” - - “Give me the truth of your right hand, - The truth of it give unto me, - That for seven years ye’ll no lady wed, - Unless it be along with me.” - - “I’ll give thee the truth of my right hand, - The truth of it I’ll freely gie, - That for seven years I’ll stay unwed, - For the kindness thou dost show to me.” - - She’s gi’en him to eat the good spice-cake, - She’s gi’en him to drink the blood-red wine; - She’s bidden him sometimes think on her, - That sae kindly freed him out of pine. - - She’s broken a ring from her finger, - And to Beichan half of it gave she: - “Keep it, to mind you of that love - The lady bore that set you free. - - “And set your foot on good ship-board, - And haste ye back to your own countrie; - And before that seven years have an end, - Come back again, love, and marry me.” - - - PART II - - But long ere seven years had an end, - She longd full sore her love to see; - For ever a voice within her breast - Said, “Beichan has broke his vow to thee.” - So she’s set her foot on good ship-board, - And turnd her back on her own countrie. - - She sailed east, she sailed west, - Till to fair England’s shore she came; - Where a bonny shepherd she espied, - Feeding his sheep upon the plain. - - “What news, what news, thou bonny shepherd? - What news hast thou to tell to me?” - “Such news I hear, ladie,” he says, - “The like was never in this countrie. - - “There is a wedding in yonder hall, - Has lasted these thirty days and three; - Young Beichan will not wed his bride, - For love of one that’s yond the sea.” - - She’s put her hand in her pocket, - Gi’en him the gold and white monie; - “Hae, take ye that, my bonny boy, - For the good news thou tell’st to me.” - - When she came to young Beichan’s gate, - She tirled softly at the pin; - So ready was the proud porter - To open and let this lady in. - - “Is this young Beichan’s hall,” she said, - “Or is that noble lord within?” - “Yea, he’s in the hall among them all, - And this is the day o’ his weddin.” - - “And has he wed anither love? - And has he clean forgotten me?” - And sighin’ said that gay ladie, - “I wish I were in my own countrie!” - - And she has taen her gay gold ring, - That with her love she break so free; - Says, “Gie him that, ye proud porter, - And bid the bridegroom speak to me.” - - When the porter came his lord before, - He kneeled down low on his knee: - “What aileth thee, my proud porter, - Thou art so full of courtesie?” - - “I’ve been porter at your gates, - It’s thirty long years now and three; - But there stands a lady at them now, - The like o’ her did I never see; - - “For on every finger she has a ring, - And on her mid-finger she has three, - And as meickle gold aboon her brow - As would buy an earldom to me.” - - Its out then spak the bride’s mother, - Aye, and an angry woman was shee; - “Ye might have excepted our bonny bride, - And twa or three of our companie.” - - “O hold your tongue, thou bride’s mother, - Of all your folly let me be; - She’s ten times fairer nor the bride, - And all that’s in your companie. - - “She begs one sheave of your white bread, - But and a cup of your red wine; - And to remember the lady’s love, - That last reliev’d you out of pine.” - - “O well-a-day!” said Beichan then, - “That I so soon have married thee; - For it can be none but Susie Pye, - That sailed the sea for love of me.” - - And quickly hied he down the stair; - Of fifteen steps he made but three; - He’s taen his bonny love in his arms, - And kist and kist her tenderlie. - - “O hae ye taen anither bride? - And hae ye quite forgotten me? - And hae ye quite forgotten her, - That gave you life and libertie?” - - She looked o’er her left shoulder, - To hide the tears stood in her e’e: - “Now fare thee well, young Beichan,” she says, - “I’ll try to think no more on thee.” - - “O never, never, Susie Pye, - For surely this can never be; - Nor ever shall I wed but her - That’s done and dree’d so much for me.” - - Then out and spak the forenoon bride, - “My lord, your love it changeth soon; - This morning I was made your bride, - And another chose ere it be noon.” - - “O hold thy tongue, thou forenoon bride, - My true love, thou canst never be; - And whan ye return to your own countrie, - A double dower I’ll send with thee.” - - He’s taen Susie Pye by the white hand, - And gently led her up and down; - And ay as he kist her red rosy lips, - “Ye’re welcome, jewel, to your own.” - - He’s taen her by the milk-white hand, - And led her to yon fountain stane; - He’s changed her name from Susie Pye, - And he’s call’d her his bonny love, Lady Jane. - - (_Condensed_) - - -THE CHILD OF ELLE - - - PART I - - On yonder hill a castle stands, - With walls and towers bedight, - And yonder lives the Child of Elle, - A young and comely Knight. - - The Child of Elle to his garden went, - And stood at his garden pale, - When, lo! he beheld Fair Emmeline’s page - Come tripping down the dale. - - The Child of Elle he hied him thence - Y-wis he stood not still, - And soon he met Fair Emmeline’s page - Come climbing up the hill. - - “Now Christ thee save, thou little foot-page! - Now Christ thee save and see! - Oh! tell me how does thy Lady gay, - And what may thy tidings be?” - - “My Lady, she is all woe-begone, - And the tears they fall from her eyne; - And aye she laments the deadly feud - Between her house and thine. - - “And here she sends thee a silken scarf, - Bedewed with many a tear, - And bids thee sometimes think on her, - Who loved thee so dear. - - “And here she sends thee a ring of gold, - The last boon thou mayst have, - And bids thee wear it for her sake, - When she is laid in grave. - - “For, ah! her gentle heart is broke, - And in grave soon must she be, - Sith her father hath chose her a new, new love, - And forbid her to think of thee. - - “Her father hath brought her a carlish Knight, - Sir John of the North Countraye, - And within three days she must him wed, - Or he vows he will her slay.” - - “Now, hie thee back, thou little foot-page, - And greet thy Lady from me, - And tell her that I, her own true love, - Will die or set her free. - - “Now, hie thee back, thou little foot-page, - And let thy fair Lady know, - This night will I be at her bower-window - Betide me weal or woe!” - - The boy he tripped, the boy he ran, - He neither stint nor stayed - Until he came to Fair Emmeline’s bower, - When kneeling down he said:-- - - “O Lady, I’ve been with thy own true love, - And he greets thee well by me; - This night will he be at thy bower-window, - And die or set thee free.” - - - PART II - - Now day was gone, and night was come, - And all were fast asleep, - All save the Lady Emmeline, - Who sate in her bower to weep: - - And soon she heard her true love’s voice - Low whispering at the wall, - “Awake! awake! my dear Lady, - ’Tis I, thy true love call. - - “Awake! awake! my Lady dear, - Come, mount this fair palfray; - This ladder of ropes will let thee down, - I’ll carry thee hence away.” - - “Now nay, now nay, thou gentle Knight, - Now nay, this may not be, - For aye should I tint my maiden fame, - If alone I should wend with thee.” - - “O Lady, thou with a Knight so true, - Mayst safely wend alone; - To my lady-mother I will thee bring, - Where marriage shall make us one.” - - “My father he is a Baron bold, - Of lineage proud and high; - And what would he say, if his daughter - Away with a Knight should fly? - - “Ah! well I wot, he never would rest, - Nor his meat should do him no good, - Till he had slain thee, Child of Elle, - And seen thy dear heart’s blood!”. - - “O Lady, wert thou in thy saddle set, - And a little space him fro, - I would not care for thy cruel father, - Nor the worst that he could do. - - “O Lady, wert thou in thy saddle set, - And once without this wall, - I would not care for thy cruel father, - Nor the worst that might befall.” - - Fair Emmeline sighed, Fair Emmeline wept, - And aye her heart was woe: - At length he seized her lily-white hand, - And down the ladder he drew. - - And thrice he clasped her to his breast, - And kissed her tenderly, - The tears that fell from her fair eyes, - Ran like the fountain free. - - He mounted himself on his steed so tall, - And her on a fair palfray, - And slung his bugle about his neck, - And roundly they rode away. - - All this beheard her own damsel, - In her bed whereas she lay, - Quoth she, “My Lord shall know of this, - So I shall have gold and fee!” - - “Awake! awake! thou Baron bold! - Awake! my noble Dame! - Your daughter is fled with the Child of Elle - To do the deed of shame!” - - The Baron he woke, the Baron he rose, - And called his merry men all: - “And come thou forth, Sir John the Knight, - The Lady is carried to thrall!” - - - PART III - - Fair Emmeline scant had ridden a mile, - A mile forth of the town, - When she was aware of her father’s men - Come galloping over the down. - - And foremost came the carlish Knight, - Sir John of the North Countraye, - “Now stop! now stop! thou false traitor, - Nor carry that Lady away! - - “For she is come of high lineage, - And was of a Lady born, - And ill it beseems thee, a false churl’s son, - To carry her hence to scorn!” - - “Now loud thou liest, Sir John the Knight, - Now thou dost lie of me, - My father’s a Knight, a Lady me bore, - So never did none by thee! - - “But light now down, my Lady fair, - Light down, and hold my steed; - While I and this discourteous Knight - Do try this arduous deed. - - “But light now down, my dear Lady, - Light down, and hold my horse; - While I and this discourteous Knight - Do try our valour’s force.” - - Fair Emmeline sighed, Fair Emmeline wept, - And aye her heart was woe, - While twixt her love and the carlish Knight - Passed many a baleful blow. - - The Child of Elle, he fought so well, - As his weapon he waved amain, - That soon he had slain the carlish Knight, - And laid him upon the plain. - - And now the Baron and all his men - Full fast approached nigh: - Ah! what may Lady Emmeline do? - ’Twere now no boot to fly! - - Her lover, he put his horn to his mouth, - And blew both loud and shrill, - And soon he saw his own merry men - Come riding over the hill. - - “Now hold thy hand, thou bold Baron, - I pray thee, hold thy hand, - Nor ruthless rend two gentle hearts - Fast knit in true love’s band. - - “Thy daughter I have dearly loved, - Full long and many a day; - But with such love as holy Kirk - Hath freely said we may. - - “Oh! give consent she may be mine, - And bless a faithful pair; - My lands and livings are not small, - My house and lineage fair. - - “My mother she was an Earl’s daughter, - And a noble Knight my sire--” - The Baron he frowned, and turned away - With mickle dole and ire. - - Fair Emmeline sighed, Fair Emmeline wept, - And did all trembling stand; - At length she sprang upon her knee, - And held his lifted hand. - - “Pardon, my Lord and Father dear, - This fair young Knight and me! - Trust me, but for the carlish Knight, - I never had fled from thee. - - “Oft have you called your Emmeline, - Your darling and your joy; - Oh! let not then your harsh resolves - Your Emmeline destroy.” - - The Baron he stroked his dark-brown cheek, - And turned his head aside - To wipe away the starting tear, - He proudly strave to hide. - - In deep revolving thought he stood, - And mused a little space: - Then raised Fair Emmeline from the ground, - With many a fond embrace. - - “Here, take her, Child of Elle,” he said - And gave her lily hand: - “Here, take my dear and only child, - And with her half my land. - - “Thy father once mine honour wronged - In days of youthful pride; - Do thou the injury repair - In fondness for thy bride. - - “And as thou love her, and hold her dear, - Heaven prosper thee and thine; - And now my blessing wend wi’ thee, - My lovely Emmeline.” - - _Attributed in part to Bishop Percy_ - (_In modern spelling_) - - - - -FOR HALLOWEEN AND MIDSUMMER EVE - - - - -THE SPELL - - _At eve last Midsummer, no sleep I sought, - But to the field a bag of Hempseed brought; - I scattered round the seed on every side, - And three times in a trembling accent cried: - “This Hempseed with my virgin hand I sow, - Who shall my True-love be, the crop shall mow!” - I straight looked back, and if my eyes speak truth, - With his keen scythe behind me came the youth! - With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground, - And turn me thrice, around, around, around!_ - - _Last May-day Fair, I searched to find a Snail, - That might my secret Lover’s name reveal. - Two Hazel-nuts I threw into the flame, - And to each nut I gave a sweetheart’s name. - This with the loudest bounce me sore amazed, - That in a flame of brightest colour blazed. - With my sharp heel, I three times mark the ground, - And turn me thrice, around, around, around!_ - - _This mellow Pippin which I pare around, - My Shepherd’s name shall flourish on the ground. - I fling the unbroken paring o’er my head, - Upon the grass a perfect L is read. - Yet on my heart a fairer L is seen - Than what the paring marks upon the green. - With my sharp heel, I three times mark the ground, - And turn me thrice, around, around, around!_ - - _John Gay. (Condensed)_ - - -THE YOUNG TAMLANE - - - PART I - - “O I forbid ye, maidens a’, - That wear gowd on your hair, - To come or gae by Carterhaugh, - For young Tamlane is there.” - - But up then spake her, fair Janet, - The fairest o’ a’ her kin; - “I’ll cum and gang to Carterhaugh, - And ask nae leave o’ him.” - - Janet has kilted her green kirtle, - A little abune her knee; - And she has braided her yellow hair, - A little abune her bree. - - And when she came to Carterhaugh, - She gaed beside the well; - And there she fand his steed standing, - But awa was himsell. - - She hadna pu’d a red red rose, - A rose but barely three; - Till up and starts a wee wee man, - At lady Janet’s knee. - - Says--“Why pu’ ye the rose, Janet? - What gars ye break the tree? - Or why come ye to Carterhaugh, - Withouten leave o’ me?”-- - - Says--“Carterhaugh it is mine ain; - My daddie gave it me: - I’ll come and gang to Carterhaugh, - And ask nae leave o’ thee. - - “The truth ye’ll tell to me, Tamlane: - A word ye mauna lie; - Gin e’er ye was in haly chapel, - Or sained in Christentie?”-- - - “The truth I’ll tell to thee, Janet, - A word I winna lee: - My father’s a knight, a lady me bore, - As well as they did thee. - - “Randolph, earl Murray, was my sire, - Dunbar, earl March, is thine; - We loved when we were children small, - Which yet you well may mind. - - “When I was a boy just turn’d of nine, - My uncle sent for me, - To hunt, and hawk, and ride with him, - And keep him cumpanie. - - “There came a wind out of the north, - A sharp wind and a snell; - And a dead sleep came over me, - And frae my horse I fell. - - “The Queen of Fairies keppit me - In yon green hill to dwell; - And I’m a fairy, lyth and limb; - Fair ladye, view me well. - - “But we, that live in Fairy-land, - No sickness know nor pain, - I quit my body when I will, - And take to it again. - - “I quit my body when I please, - Or unto it repair; - We can inhabit at our ease, - In either earth or air. - - “Our shapes and size we can convert - To either large or small; - An old nut-shell’s the same to us - As is the lofty hall. - - “We sleep in rose-buds soft and sweet, - We revel in the stream; - We wanton lightly on the wind, - Or glide on a sunbeam. - - “And all our wants are well supplied - From every rich man’s store, - Who thankless sins the gifts he gets, - And vainly grasps for more. - - “Then I would never tire, Janet, - In Elfish land to dwell; - But aye, at every seven years, - They pay the teind to hell; - And I am sae fat and fair of flesh, - I fear’t will be mysell. - - “This night is Hallowe’en, Janet, - The morn is Hallowday; - And, gin ye dare your true love win, - Ye na hae time to stay. - - “The night it is good Hallowe’en, - When fairy folk will ride; - And they that wad their true love win - At Miles Cross they maun bide.”-- - - “But how shall I thee ken, Tamlane? - Or how shall I thee knaw, - Amang so many unearthly knights, - The like I never saw?”-- - - “The first company that passes by, - Say na, and let them gae; - The next company that passes by, - Say na, and do right sae; - The third company that passes by, - Then I’ll be ane o’ thae. - - “First let pass the black, Janet, - And syne let pass the brown; - But grip ye to the milk-white steed, - And pu’ the rider down. - - “For I ride on the milk-white steed, - And aye nearest the town; - Because I was a christen’d knight, - They gave me that renown. - - “My right hand will be gloved, Janet, - My left hand will be bare; - And these the tokens I gie thee, - Nae doubt I will be there. - - “They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet, - An adder and a snake; - But haud me fast, let me not pass, - Gin ye wad be my maik. - - “They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet, - An adder and an ask; - They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet, - A bale that burns fast. - - “They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet, - A red-hot gad o’ airn; - But haud me fast, let me not pass, - For I’ll do you no harm. - - “And, next, they’ll shape me in your arms, - A tod, but and an eel; - But haud me fast, nor let me gang, - As you do love me weel. - - “They’ll shape me in your arms, Janet, - A dove, but and a swan; - And, last, they’ll shape me in your arms - A mother-naked man: - Cast your green mantle over me-- - I’ll be myself again.”-- - - - PART II - - Gloomy, gloomy, was the night, - And eiry was the way, - As fair Janet in her green mantle, - To Miles Cross she did gae. - - The heavens were black, the night was dark, - And dreary was the place; - But Janet stood, with eager wish, - Her lover to embrace. - - Betwixt the hours of twelve and one, - A north wind tore the bent; - And straight she heard strange elritch sounds, - Upon that wind which went. - - About the dead hour o’ the night, - She heard the bridles ring; - And Janet was as glad o’ that - As any earthly thing. - - Their oaten pipes blew wondrous shrill. - The hemlock small blew clear; - And louder notes from hemlock large, - And bog-reed, struck the ear; - But solemn sounds, or sober thoughts, - The Fairies cannot bear. - - They sing, inspired with love and joy, - Like skylarks in the air; - Of solid sense, or thought that’s grave, - You’ll find no traces there. - - Fair Janet stood, with mind unmoved, - The dreary heath upon; - And louder, louder wax’d the sound, - As they came riding on. - - Will o’ Wisp before them went, - Sent forth a twinkling light; - And soon she saw the fairy bands - All riding in her sight. - - And first gaed by the black, black steed, - And then gaed by the brown; - But fast she gript the milk-white steed, - And pu’d the rider down. - - She pu’d him frae the milk-white steed, - And loot the bridle fa’; - And up there raise an erlish cry-- - “He’s won amang us a’!”-- - - They shaped him in fair Janet’s arms, - A tod, but and an eel; - She held him fast in every shape-- - As she did love him weel. - - They shaped him in her arms at last, - A mother-naked man; - She wrapt him in her green mantle, - And sae her true love wan! - - Up then spake the queen o’ fairies, - Out o’ a bush o’ broom-- - “She that has borrow’d young Tamlane, - Has gotten a stately groom.”-- - - Up then spake the queen o’ Fairies, - Out o’ a bush o’ rye-- - “She’s ta’en awa the bonniest knight - In a’ my cumpanie. - - “But had I kenn’d, Tamlane,” she says, - “A ladye wad borrow’d thee-- - I wad ta’en out thy twa grey een, - Put in twa een o’ tree. - - “Had I but kenn’d, Tamlane,” she says, - “Before ye came frae hame-- - I wad ta’en out your heart o’ flesh, - Put in a heart o’ stane.” - - “Had I but had the wit yestreen - That I hae coft the day-- - I’d paid my kane seven times to hell - Ere you’d been won away!” - - (_Condensed_) - - -THE WIFE OF USHER’S WELL - - 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. - - They hadna been a week from her, - A week but barely ane, - When word came back to the carline wife, - That her three sons were gane. - - They hadna been a week from her, - A week but barely three, - When word came to the carline wife, - That her sons she’d never see. - - “I wish the wind may never cease, - Nor fashes in the flood, - Till my three sons come hame to me, - In earthly flesh and blood!”-- - - It fell about the Martinmas, - When nights are lang and mirk, - The carline wife’s three sons cam hame, - And their hats were o’ the birk. - - It neither grew in syke nor ditch, - Nor yet in ony sheugh; - But at the gates o’ Paradise, - That birk grew fair eneuch. - - * * * * * - - “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.”-- - - 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. - - * * * * * - - Up then crew the red red cock, - And up and crew the gray; - The eldest to the youngest said, - “’Tis time we were away.”-- - - The cock he hadna craw’d but ance, - And clapp’d his wings at a’, - When the youngest to the eldest said, - “Brother, we must awa.-- - - “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. - - “Fare ye weel, my mother dear! - Fareweel to barn and byre! - And fare ye weel, the bonny lass, - That kindles my mother’s fire.” - - -SIR ROLAND - - Whan he cam to his ain luve’s bouir, - He tirled at the pin; - And sae ready was his fair fause luve - To rise and let him in. - - “Oh! welcome, welcome, Sir Roland,” she says, - “Thrice welcome thou art to me; - For this night thou wilt feast in my secret bouir - And to-morrow we’ll wedded be.” - - “This night is Hallow Eve,” he said, - “And to-morrow is Hallow-day; - And I dreamed a drearie dream yestreen, - That has made my heart fu’ wae. - - “I dreamed a drearie dream yestreen, - And I wish it may come to gude; - I dreamed that ye slew my best grew hound, - And gied me his lappered blude.” - - * * * * * - - “Unbuckle your belt, Sir Roland,” she said, - “And set you safely down.” - “Oh! your chamber is very dark, fair maid, - And the night is wondrous lown.” - - “Yes, dark dark is my secret bowir, - And lown the midnight may be; - For there is none waking in a’ this tower - But thou, my true love, and me.” - - * * * * * - - She has mounted on her true love’s steed, - By the ae light o’ the moon; - She has whipped him and spurred him, - And roundly she rade frae the toun. - - She hadna ridden a mile o’ gate, - Never a mile but ane, - Whan she was aware of a tall young man, - Slow riding o’er the plain. - - She turned her to the right about, - Then to the left turned she; - But aye ’tween her and the wan moonlight - That tall Knight did she see. - - And he was riding burd alane, - On a horse as black as jet; - But tho’ she followed him fast and fell, - No nearer could she get. - - “Oh stop! Oh stop! young man,” she said; - “For I in dule am dight; - Oh stop, and win a fair lady’s luve, - If you be a leal true Knight.” - - But nothing did the tall Knight say, - And nothing did he blin; - Still slowly rode he on before - And fast she rade behind. - - She whipped her steed, she spurred her steed, - Till his breast was all a foam; - But nearer unto that tall young Knight, - The Lady, she could not come. - - “Oh, if you be a gay young Knight, - As well I trow you be, - Pull tight your bridle reins, and stay - Till I come up to thee.” - - But nothing did that tall Knight say, - And no whit did he blin, - Until he reached a broad river’s side - And there he drew his rein. - - “Oh, is this water deep?” he said, - “As it is wondrous dun? - Or is it sic as a saikless maid - And a leal true Knight may swim?” - - “The water it is deep,” she said, - “As it is wondrous dun; - But it is sic as a saikless maid - And a leal true Knight may swim.” - - The Knight spurred on his tall black steed; - The Lady spurred on her brown; - And fast they rade into the flood, - And fast they baith swam down. - - “The water weets my tae,” she said; - “The water weets my knee; - And hold up my bridle reins, Sir Knight, - For the sake of Our Ladye.” - - “If I would help thee now,” he said, - “It were a deadly sin; - For I’ve sworn neir to trust a fair may’s word, - Till the water weets her chin.” - - “Oh! the water weets my waist,” she said; - “Sae does it weet my skin; - And my aching heart rins round about, - The burn maks sic a din. - - “The water is waxing deeper still, - Sae does it wax mair wide; - And aye the farther that we ride on, - Farther off is the other side. - - “Oh, help me now, thou fause fause Knight! - Have pity on my youth; - For now the water jawes owre my head, - And it gurgles in my mouth.” - - The Knight turned right and round about, - All in the middle stream; - And he stretched out his head to that Ladie - But loudly she did scream! - - “Oh, this is Hallow-morn,” he said, - “And it is your bridal day; - But sad would be that gay wedding, - If bridegroom and bride were away. - - “And ride on, ride on, proud Margaret! - Till the water comes o’er your bree; - For the bride maun ride deep and deeper yet, - Wha rides this ford wi’ me! - - “Turn round, turn round, proud Margaret! - Turn ye round, and look on me! - Thou hast killed a true Knight under trust, - And his Ghost now links on with thee.” - - -THE SKELETON IN ARMOUR - - “Speak! speak! thou fearful guest! - Who, with thy hollow breast - Still in rude armour drest, - Comest to daunt me! - Wrapt not in Eastern balms, - But with thy fleshless palms - Stretched, as if asking alms, - Why dost thou haunt me?” - - Then, from those cavernous eyes - Pale flashes seemed to rise, - As when the Northern skies - Gleam in December; - And, like the water’s flow - Under December’s snow, - Came a dull voice of woe - From the heart’s chamber. - - “I was a Viking old! - My deeds, though manifold, - No Skald in song has told, - No Saga taught thee! - Take heed, that in thy verse - Thou dost the tale rehearse, - Else dread a dead man’s curse; - For this I sought thee. - - “Far in the Northern Land, - By the wild Baltic’s strand, - I, with my childish hand, - Tamed the gerfalcon; - And, with my skates fast-bound, - Skimmed the half-frozen Sound, - That the poor whimpering hound - Trembled to walk on. - - “Oft to his frozen lair - Tracked I the grisly bear, - While from my path the hare - Fled like a shadow; - Oft through the forest dark - Followed the were-wolf’s bark, - Until the soaring lark - Sang from the meadow. - - “But when I older grew, - Joining a corsair’s crew, - O’er the dark sea I flew - With the marauders. - Wild was the life we led; - Many the souls that sped, - Many the hearts that bled, - By our stern orders. - - “Many a wassail-bout - Wore the long Winter out; - Often our midnight shout - Set the cocks crowing, - As we the Berserk’s tale - Measured in cups of ale, - Draining the oaken pail, - Filled to o’erflowing. - - “Once as I told in glee - Tales of the stormy sea, - Soft eyes did gaze on me, - Burning yet tender; - And as the white stars shine - On the dark Norway pine, - On that dark heart of mine - Fell their soft splendour. - - “I wooed the blue-eyed maid, - Yielding, yet half afraid. - And in the forest shade - Our vows were plighted. - Under its loosened vest - Fluttered her little breast, - Like birds within their nest - By the hawk frighted. - - “Bright in her father’s hall - Shields gleamed upon the wall, - Loud sang the minstrels all, - Chanting his glory; - When of old Hildebrand - I asked his daughter’s hand, - Mute did the minstrels stand - To hear my story. - - “While the brown ale he quaffed, - Loud then the champion laughed, - And as the wind-gusts waft - The sea-foam brightly, - So the loud laugh of scorn, - Out of those lips unshorn, - From the deep drinking-horn - Blew the foam lightly. - - “She was a Prince’s child, - I but a Viking wild, - And though she blushed and smiled, - I was discarded! - Should not the dove so white - Follow the sea-mew’s flight, - Why did they leave that night - Her nest unguarded? - - “Scarce had I put to sea, - Bearing the maid with me, - Fairest of all was she - Among the Norsemen! - When on the white sea-strand, - Waving his armed hand, - Saw we old Hildebrand, - With twenty horsemen. - - “Then launched they to the blast, - Bent like a reed each mast, - Yet we were gaining fast, - When the wind failed us; - And with a sudden flaw - Came round the gusty Skaw, - So that our foe we saw - Laugh as he hailed us. - - “And as to catch the gale - Round veered the flapping sail, - ‘Death!’ was the helmsman’s hail, - ‘Death without quarter!’ - Mid-ships with iron keel - Struck we her ribs of steel; - Down her black hulk did reel - Through the black water! - - “As with his wings aslant, - Sails the fierce cormorant, - Seeking some rocky haunt, - With his prey laden,-- - So toward the open main, - Beating to sea again, - Through the wild hurricane, - Bore I the maiden. - - “Three weeks we westward bore, - And when the storm was o’er, - Cloud-like we saw the shore - Stretching to leeward; - There for my lady’s bower - Built I the lofty tower, - Which, to this very hour, - Stands looking seaward. - - “There lived we many years; - Time dried the maiden’s tears; - She had forgot her fears, - She was a mother; - Death closed her mild blue eyes, - Under that tower she lies; - Ne’er shall the sun arise - On such another! - - “Still grew my bosom then, - Still as a stagnant fen! - Hateful to me were men, - The sunlight hateful! - In the vast forest here, - Clad in my warlike gear, - Fell I upon my spear, - Oh, death was grateful! - - “Thus, seamed with many scars, - Bursting these prison bars, - Up to its native stars - My soul ascended! - There from the flowing bowl - Deep drinks the warrior’s soul, - _Skoal!_ to the Northland! _skoal!_” - Thus the tale ended. - - _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ - - -SWEET WILLIAM’S GHOST - - There came a ghost to Margret’s door, - With many a grievous groan, - And ay he tirled at the pin, - But answer made she none. - - “Is that my father Philip, - Or is’t my brother John? - Or is’t my true-love, Willy, - From Scotland new come home?” - - “Tis not thy father Philip, - Nor yet thy brother John; - But tis thy true-love, Willy, - From Scotland new come home. - - “O sweet Margret, O dear Margret, - I pray thee speak to me; - Give me my faith and troth, Margret, - As I gave it to thee.” - - “Thy faith and troth thou’s never get, - Nor yet will I thee lend, - Till that thou come within my bower, - And kiss my cheek and chin.” - - “If I shoud come within thy bower, - I am no earthly man; - And shoud I kiss thy rosy lips, - Thy days will not be lang. - - “O sweet Margret, O dear Margret, - I pray thee speak to me; - Give me my faith and troth, Margret, - As I gave it to thee.” - - “Thy faith and troth thou’s never get, - Nor yet will I thee lend, - Till you take me to yon kirk, - And wed me with a ring.” - - “My bones are buried in yon kirk-yard, - Afar beyond the sea, - And it is but my spirit, Margret, - That’s now speaking to thee.” - - She stretchd out her lilly-white hand, - And, for to do her best, - “Hae, there’s your faith and troth, Willy, - God send your soul good rest.” - - Now she has kilted her robes of green - A piece below her knee, - And a’ the live-lang winter night - The dead corp followed she. - - “Is there any room at your head, Willy? - Or any room at your feet? - Or any room at your side, Willy, - Wherein that I may creep?” - - “There’s no room at my head, Margret, - There’s no room at my feet; - There’s no room at my side, Margret, - My coffin’s made so meet.” - - Then up and crew the red, red cock, - And up then crew the gray: - “Tis time, tis time, my dear Margret, - That you were going away.” - - No more the ghost to Margret said, - But, with a grievous groan, - Evanishd in a cloud of mist, - And left her all alone. - - “O stay, my only true-love, stay,” - The constant Margret cry’d; - Wan grew her cheeks, she closd her een, - Stretchd her soft limbs, and dy’d. - - -THE EVE OF ST. JOHN - - - PART I - - The Baron of Smaylho’me rose with day, - He spurred his courser on, - Without stop or stay, down the rocky way, - That leads to Brotherstone. - - He went not with the bold Buccleuch, - His banner broad to rear; - He went not ’gainst the English yew, - To lift the Scottish spear. - - Yet his plate-jack was braced, and his helmet was laced, - And his vaunt-brace of proof he wore; - At his saddle-gerthe was a good steel sperthe, - Full ten pound weight and more. - - The Baron returned in three days’ space, - And his looks were sad and sour; - And weary was his courser’s pace, - As he reached his rocky tower. - - He came not from where Ancram Moor - Ran red with English blood; - Where the Douglas true, and the bold Buccleuch, - ’Gainst keen Lord Evers stood. - - Yet was his helmet hacked and hewed, - His acton pierced and tore, - His axe and his dagger with blood imbrued,-- - But it was not English gore. - - He lighted at the Chapellage, - He held him close and still; - And he whistled thrice for his little foot-page, - His name was English Will. - - “Come thou hither, my little foot-page, - Come hither to my knee; - Though thou art young, and tender of age, - I think thou art true to me. - - “Come, tell me all that thou hast seen, - And look thou tell me true! - Since I from Smaylho’me tower have been, - What did thy Lady do?”-- - - “My Lady, each night, sought the lonely light, - That burns on the wild Watchfold; - For, from height to height, the beacons bright - Of the English foemen told. - - “The bittern clamoured from the moss, - The wind blew loud and shrill; - Yet the craggy pathway she did cross, - To the eiry Beacon Hill. - - “I watched her steps, and silent came - Where she sat her on a stone;-- - No watchman stood by the dreary flame, - It burned all alone. - - “The second night I kept her in sight, - Till to the fire she came, - And, by Mary’s might! an armed Knight - Stood by the lonely flame. - - “And many a word that warlike lord - Did speak to my Lady there; - But the rain fell fast, and loud blew the blast, - And I heard not what they were. - - “The third night there the sky was fair, - And the mountain blast was still, - As again I watched the secret pair, - On the lonesome Beacon Hill. - - “And I heard her name the midnight hour, - And name this holy eve; - And say, ‘Come this night to thy Lady’s bower; - Ask no bold Baron’s leave. - - “‘He lifts his spear with the bold Buccleuch; - His Lady is all alone; - The door she’ll undo, to her Knight so true, - On the Eve of good St. John.’-- - - “‘I cannot come; I must not come; - I dare not come to thee; - On the Eve of St. John I must wander alone: - In thy bower I may not be.’-- - - “‘Now, out on thee, faint-hearted Knight! - Thou shouldst not say me nay; - For the eve is sweet, and when lovers meet, - Is worth the whole summer’s day. - - “‘And I’ll chain the bloodhound, and the warder shall not sound, - And rushes shall be strewed on the stair; - So, by the black rood-stone, and by holy St. John, - I conjure thee, my Love, to be there!’-- - - “‘Though the bloodhound be mute, and the rush beneath my foot, - And the warder his bugle should not blow, - Yet there sleepeth a priest in the chamber to the East, - And my footstep he would know.’-- - - “‘O fear not the priest, who sleepeth to the East! - For to Dryburgh the way he has ta’en; - And there to say mass, till three days do pass, - For the soul of a Knight that is slain.’-- - - “He turned him around, and grimly he frowned; - Then he laughed right scornfully-- - ‘He who says the mass-rite for the soul of that Knight, - May as well say mass for me: - - “‘At the lone midnight hour, when bad spirits have power, - In thy chamber will I be.’-- - With that he was gone, and my Lady left alone, - And no more did I see.” - - Then changed, I trow, was that bold Baron’s brow, - From the dark to the blood-red high, - “Now, tell me the mien of the Knight thou hast seen, - For, by Mary, he shall die!”-- - - “His arms shone full bright, in the beacon’s red light; - His plume it was scarlet and blue; - On his shield was a hound, in a silver leash bound, - And his crest was a branch of the yew.” - - “Thou liest, thou liest, thou little foot-page, - Loud dost thou lie to me! - For that Knight is cold, and low laid in the mould, - All under the Eildon Tree.”-- - - “Yet hear but my word, my noble Lord! - For I heard her name his name; - And that Lady bright, she called the Knight - Sir Richard of Coldinghame.”-- - - The bold Baron’s brow then changed, I trow, - From high blood-red to pale-- - “The grave is deep and dark--and the corpse is stiff and stark-- - So I may not trust thy tale. - - “Where fair Tweed flows round holy Melrose, - And Eildon slopes to the plain, - Full three nights ago, by some secret foe, - That gay gallant was slain. - - “The varying light deceived thy sight, - And the wild winds drowned the name; - For the Dryburgh bells ring, and the white monks do sing, - For Sir Richard of Coldinghame!” - - - PART II - - He passed the court-gate, and he oped the tower-grate, - And he mounted the narrow stair, - To the bartizan seat, where, with maids that on her wait, - He found his Lady fair. - - That Lady sat in mournful mood; - Looked over hill and vale; - Over Tweed’s fair flood, and Mertoun’s wood, - And all down Teviotdale. - - “Now hail, now hail, thou Lady bright!”-- - “Now hail, thou Baron true! - What news, what news, from Ancram fight? - What news from the bold Buccleuch?”-- - - “The Ancram Moor is red with gore, - For many a Southern fell; - And Buccleuch has charged us, evermore, - To watch our beacons well.”-- - - The Lady blushed red, but nothing she said: - Nor added the Baron a word: - Then she stepped down the stair to her chamber fair, - And so did her moody lord. - - In sleep the Lady mourned, and the Baron tossed and turned, - And oft to himself he said,-- - “The worms around him creep, and his bloody grave is deep, - It cannot give up the dead!”-- - - - PART III - - It was near the ringing of matin-bell, - The night was wellnigh done, - When a heavy sleep on that Baron fell, - On the Eve of good St. John. - - The Lady looked through the chamber fair, - By the light of a dying flame; - And she was aware of a Knight stood there-- - Sir Richard of Coldinghame! - - “Alas! away, away!” she cried, - “For the holy Virgin’s sake!”-- - “Lady, I know who sleeps by thy side; - But, Lady, he will not awake. - - “By Eildon Tree, for long nights three, - In bloody grave have I lain; - The mass and the death-prayer are said for me, - But, Lady, they are said in vain. - - “By the Baron’s brand, near Tweed’s fair strand, - Most foully slain, I fell; - And my restless sprite on the beacon’s height, - For a space is doomed to dwell. - - “At our trysting-place, for a certain space, - I must wander to and fro; - But I had not had power to come to thy bower, - Hadst thou not conjured me so.”-- - - Love mastered fear--her brow she crossed; - “How, Richard, hast thou sped? - And art thou saved, or art thou lost?” - The vision shook his head! - - “Who spilleth life, shall forfeit life; - So bid thy lord believe: - That lawless love is guilt above, - This awful sign receive.” - - He laid his left palm on an oaken beam: - His right upon her hand; - The Lady shrunk, and fainting sunk, - For it scorched like a fiery brand. - - The sable score, of fingers four, - Remains on that board impressed; - And for evermore that Lady wore - A covering on her wrist. - - There is a nun in Dryburgh bower, - Ne’er looks upon the sun; - There is a monk in Melrose tower, - He speaketh word to none. - - That nun, who ne’er beholds the day, - That monk, who speaks to none-- - That nun was Smaylho’me’s Lady gay, - That monk the bold Baron. - - _Sir Walter Scott_ - - - - -ALL UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE - - - - -THE BIRTH O’ ROBIN HOOD - - _And mony ane sings o’ grass, o’ grass, - And mony ane sings o’ corn; - And mony ane sings o’ Robin Hood, - Kens little whare he was born._ - - _It wasna in the ha’, the ha’, - Nor in the painted bower; - But it was in the gude green wood, - Amang the lily flower._ - - -ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN - - When Robin Hood was about twenty years old, - With a hey down down and a down - He happend to meet Little John, - A jolly brisk blade, right fit for the trade, - For he was a lusty young man. - - Tho he was calld Little, his limbs they were large, - And his stature was seven foot high; - Where-ever he came, they quak’d at his name, - For soon he would make them to fly. - - How they came acquainted, I’ll tell you in brief, - If you will but listen a while; - For this very jest, amongst all the rest, - I think it may cause you to smile. - - Bold Robin Hood said to his jolly bowmen, - “Pray tarry you here in this grove; - And see that you all observe well my call, - While thorough the forest I rove. - - “We have had no sport for these fourteen long days, - Therefore now abroad will I go; - Now should I be beat, and cannot retreat, - My horn I will presently blow.” - - Then did he shake hands with his merry men all, - And bid them at present good b’w’ye; - Then, as near a brook his journey he took, - A stranger he chancd to espy. - - They happend to meet on a long narrow bridge, - And neither of them would give way; - Quoth bold Robin Hood, and sturdily stood, - “I’ll show you right Nottingham play.” - - With that from his quiver an arrow he drew, - A broad arrow with a goose-wing: - The stranger reply’d, “I’ll liquor thy hide, - If thou offerst to touch the string.” - - Quoth bold Robin Hood, “Thou dost prate like an ass, - For were I to bend but my bow, - I could send a dart quite thro thy proud heart, - Before thou couldst strike me one blow.” - - “Thou talkst like a coward,” the stranger reply’d; - “Well armd with a long bow you stand, - To shoot at my breast, while I, I protest, - Have nought but a staff in my hand.” - - “The name of a coward,” quoth Robin, “I scorn, - Wherefore my long bow I’ll lay by; - And now, for thy sake, a staff will I take, - The truth of thy manhood to try.” - - Then Robin Hood stept to a thicket of trees, - And chose him a staff of ground-oak; - Now this being done, away he did run - To the stranger, and merrily spoke: - - “Lo! see my staff, it is lusty and tough, - Now here on the bridge we will play; - Whoever falls in, the other shall win - The battel, and so we’ll away.” - - “With all my whole heart,” the stranger reply’d; - “I scorn in the least to give out;” - This said, they fell to’t without more dispute, - And their staffs they did flourish about. - - And first Robin he gave the stranger a bang, - So hard that it made his bones ring: - The stranger he said, “This must be repaid, - I’ll give you as good as you bring. - - “So long as I’m able to handle my staff, - To die in your debt, friend, I scorn:” - Then to it each goes, and followd their blows, - As if they had been threshing of corn. - - The stranger gave Robin a crack on the crown, - Which caused the blood to appear; - Then Robin, enrag’d, more fiercely engag’d, - And followd his blows more severe. - - So thick and so fast did he lay it on him, - With a passionate fury and ire, - At every stroke, he made him to smoke, - As if he had been all on fire. - - O then into fury the stranger he grew, - And gave him a damnable look, - And with it a blow that laid him full low, - And tumbld him into the brook. - - “I prithee, good fellow, O where art thou now?” - The stranger, in laughter, he cry’d; - Quoth bold Robin Hood, “Good faith, in the flood, - And floating along with the tide. - - “I needs must acknowledge thou art a brave soul; - With thee I’ll no longer contend; - For needs must I say, thou hast got the day, - Our battel shall be at an end.” - - Then unto the bank he did presently wade, - And pulld himself out by a thorn; - Which done, at the last, he blowd a loud blast - Straitway on his fine bugle-horn. - - The eccho of which through the vallies did fly, - At which his stout bowmen appeard, - All cloathed in green, most gay to be seen; - So up to their master they steerd. - - “O what’s the matter?” quoth William Stutely; - “Good master, you are wet to the skin:” - “No matter,” quoth he; “the lad which you see, - In fighting, hath tumbld me in.” - - “He shall not go scot-free,” the others reply’d; - So strait they were seizing him there, - To duck him likewise; but Robin Hood cries, - “He is a stout fellow, forbear. - - “There’s no one shall wrong thee, friend, be not afraid; - These bowmen upon me do wait; - There’s threescore and nine; if thou wilt be mine, - Thou shalt have my livery strait. - - “And other accoutrements fit for a man; - Speak up, jolly blade, never fear; - I’ll teach you also the use of the bow, - To shoot at the fat fallow-deer.” - - “O here is my hand,” the stranger reply’d, - “I’ll serve you with all my whole heart; - My name is John Little, a man of good mettle; - Nere doubt me, for I’ll play my part.” - - “His name shall be alterd,” quoth William Stutely, - “And I will his godfather be; - Prepare then a feast, and none of the least, - For we will be merry,” quoth he. - - They presently fetchd in a brace of fat does, - With humming strong liquor likewise; - They lovd what was good; so, in the greenwood, - This pretty sweet babe they baptize. - - He was, I must tell you, but seven foot high, - And, may be, an ell in the waste; - A pretty sweet lad; much feasting they had; - Bold Robin the christning grac’d, - - With all his bowmen, which stood in a ring, - And were of the Nottingham breed; - Brave Stutely comes then, with seven yeomen, - And did in this manner proceed. - - “This infant was called John Little,” quoth he, - “Which name shall be changed anon; - The words we’ll transpose, so where-ever he goes, - His name shall be calld Little John.” - - They all with a shout made the elements ring, - So soon as the office was ore; - To feasting they went, with true merriment, - And tippld strong liquor gillore. - - Then Robin he took the pretty sweet babe, - And cloathd him from top to the toe - In garments of green, most gay to be seen, - And gave him a curious long bow. - - “Thou shalt be an archer as well as the best, - And range in the greenwood with us; - Where we’ll not want gold nor silver, behold, - While bishops have ought in their purse. - - “We live here like squires, or lords of renown, - Without ere a foot of free land; - We feast on good cheer, with wine, ale, and beer, - And evry thing at our command.” - - Then musick and dancing did finish the day; - At length, when the sun waxed low, - Then all the whole train the grove did refrain, - And unto their caves they did go. - - And so ever after, as long as he livd, - Altho he was proper and tall, - Yet nevertheless, the truth to express, - Still Little John they did him call. - - -ROBIN HOOD AND CLORINDA - - When Robin Hood came into merry Sherwood, - He winded his bugle so clear; - And twice five and twenty good yeomen and bold, - Before Robin Hood did appear. - - “Where are your companions all?” said Robin Hood, - “For still I want forty and three.” - Then said a bold yeoman, “Lo, yonder they stand, - All under the green-wood tree.” - - As that word was spoke, Clorinda came by, - The queen of the shepherds was she; - And her gown was of velvet as green as the grass, - And her buskin did reach to her knee. - - Her gait it was graceful, her body was straight, - And her countenance free from pride; - A bow in her hand, and quiver and arrows - Hung dangling by her sweet side. - - Her eye-brows were black, ay, and so was her hair, - And her skin was as smooth as glass; - Her visage spoke wisdom, and modesty too; - Sets with Robin Hood such a lass! - - Said Robin Hood, “Lady fair, whither away? - O whither, fair lady, away?” - And she made him answer, “To kill a fat buck; - For to-morrow is Titbury day.” - - Said Robin Hood, “Lady fair, wander with me - A little to yonder green bower, - There set down to rest you, and you shall be sure - Of a brace or a lease, in an hour.” - - And as we were going towards the green bower, - Two hundred good bucks we espy’d; - She chose out the fattest that was in the herd, - And she shot him through side and side. - - “By the faith of my body,” said bold Robin Hood, - “I never saw woman like thee; - And com’st thou from east, ay, or com’st thou from west, - Thou needst not beg venison of me. - - “However, along to my bower you shall go, - And taste of a forrester’s meat:” - And when we come thither we found as good cheer - As any man needs for to eat. - - For there was hot venison, and warden pies cold, - Cream clouted, with honey-combs plenty; - And the sarvitors they were, besides Little John, - Good yeomen at least four and twenty. - - Clorinda said, “Tell me your name, gentle sir:” - And he said, “’Tis bold Robin Hood: - Squire Gamwel’s my uncle, but all my delight - Is to dwell in the merry Sherwood; - - “For ’tis a fine life, and ’tis void of all strife.” - “So ’tis, sir,” Clorinda reply’d. - “But oh!” said bold Robin, “how sweet would it be, - If Clorinda would be my bride!” - - She blusht at the motion; yet, after a pause, - Said, “Yes, sir, and with all my heart.” - “Then let us send for a priest,” said Robin Hood, - “And be married before we do part.” - - When dinner was ended, Sir Roger, the parson - Of Dubbridge, was sent for in haste: - He brought his mass-book, and he bade them take hands, - And joyn’d them in marriage full fast. - - And then, as bold Robin Hood and his sweet bride - Went hand in hand to the green bower, - The birds sung with pleasure in merry Sherwood, - And ’t was a most joyful hour. - - And when Robin came in the sight of the bower, - “Where are my yeomen?” said he: - And Little John answer’d, “Lo, yonder they stand, - All under the green-wood tree.” - - Then a garland they brought her, by two and by two, - And plac’d them upon the bride’s head: - The music struck up, and we all fell to dance, - So the bride and bridegroom were wed. - - (_Condensed_) - - -SONG OF THE OUTLAW MURRAY - - - PART I - - Ettrick Forest is a fair forest, - In it grows many a seemly tree; - There’s hart and hind, and dae and rae, - And of a’ wild beasts great plentie. - - There’s a fair Castle, bigged wi’ lime and stane; - O gin it stands not pleasantlie! - In the fore front o’ that Castle fair, - Twa unicorns are bra’ to see; - There’s the picture of a Knight and a Lady bright, - And the green hollin abune their bree. - - There an Outlaw keeps five hundred men, - He keeps a royal company; - His merrymen a’ in ae livery clad, - O’ the Lincoln green sae gay to see; - He and his Lady in purple clad, - O gin they live not royallie! - - Word is gane to our noble King, - In Edinburgh where that he lay, - That there was an Outlaw in Ettrick Forest, - Counted him nought, nor a’ his courtrie gay. - - “I make a vow,” then the gude King said, - “Unto the Man that dear bought me, - I’se either be King of Ettrick Forest, - Or King of Scotland that Outlaw sall be!” - - Then spake the Lord hight Hamilton, - And to the noble King said he, - “My sovereign Prince, some counsel take, - First at your nobles, syne at me. - - “I rede ye, send yon braw Outlaw till, - And see gif your man come will he: - Desire him come and be your man, - And hold of you yon forest free. - - “Gif he refuses to do that, - We’ll conquer baith his lands and he! - Or else we’ll throw his Castle down, - And mak’ a widow o’ his gay Ladye.” - - The King then called a gentleman, - James Boyd (the Earl of Arran’s brother was he); - When James he came before the King, - He kneeled before him on his knee. - - “Welcome, James Boyd!” said our noble King, - “A message ye maun gang for me; - Ye maun hie to Ettrick Forest, - To yon Outlaw, where bideth he. - - “Ask him of whom he holds his lands, - Or man wha may his master be, - And desire him come and be my man, - And hold of me yon forest free. - - “To Edinburgh to come and gang, - His safe warrant I sall gie; - And gif he refuses to do that, - We’ll conquer baith his lands and he. - - “Thou mayst vow I’ll cast his Castle down, - And mak’ a widow o’ his gay Ladye; - I’ll hang his merrymen, pair by pair, - In ony frith where I may them see.” - - - PART II - - James Boyd took his leave o’ the noble King, - To Ettrick Forest fair cam’ he; - Down Birkendale Brae when that he cam’, - He saw the fair forest wi’ his ee. - - Baith dae and rae, and hart and hind, - And of a’ wild beasts great plentie; - He heard the bows that boldly ring, - And arrows whidderan’ him near by. - - Of that great Castle he got a sight; - The like he ne’er saw wi’ his ee! - On the fore front o’ that Castle fair, - Twa unicorns were bra’ to see; - The picture of a Knight, and Lady bright, - And the green hollin abune their bree. - - Thereat he spyed five hundred men, - Shooting with bows on Newark Lee; - They were a’ in ae livery clad, - O’ the Lincoln green sae gay to see. - - His men were a’ clad in the green, - The Knight was armed capapie, - With a bended bow, on a milk-white steed; - And I wot they ranked right bonnilie. - - Thereby Boyd kend he was master man, - And served him in his ain degree. - “God mote thee save, brave Outlaw Murray! - Thy Ladye, and all thy chivalrie!” - “Marry, thou’s welcome, gentleman, - Some King’s messenger thou seems to be.” - - “The King of Scotland sent me here, - And, gude Outlaw, I am sent to thee; - I wad wot of whom ye hold your lands, - Or man wha may thy master be?” - - “Thir lands are mine,” the Outlaw said; - “I ken nae King in Christentie; - Frae Soudron I this forest wan, - When the King nor his Knights were not to see.” - - “He desires you’ll come to Edinburgh, - And hauld of him this forest free; - And, gif ye refuse to do this thing, - He’ll conquer baith thy lands and thee. - He hath vowed to cast thy Castle down, - And mak’ a widow o’ thy gay Ladye; - - “He’ll hang thy merrymen, pair by pair, - In ony frith where he may them find.” - “Ay, by my troth!” the Outlaw said, - “Than wauld I think me far behind. - - “Ere the King my fair country get, - This land that’s nativest to me, - Mony o’ his nobles sall be cauld; - Their ladies sall be right wearie.” - - Then spak’ his Lady, fair of face: - She said, “’T were without consent of me, - That an outlaw suld come before a King; - I am right rad of treasonrie. - Bid him be gude to his lords at hame, - For Edinburgh my Lord sall never see.” - - - PART III - - James Boyd took his leave o’ the Outlaw keen, - To Edinburgh boun’ is he; - When James he cam’ before the King, - He kneeled lowly on his knee. - - “Welcome, James Boyd!” said our noble King, - “What forest is Ettrick Forest free?” - “Ettrick Forest is the fairest forest - That ever man saw wi’ his ee. - - “There’s the dae, the rae, the hart, the hind, - And of a’ wild beasts great plentie; - There’s a pretty Castle of lime and stane, - Oh! gin it stands not pleasantlie! - - “There’s in the fore front o’ that Castle - Twa unicorns, sae bra’ to see; - There’s the picture of a Knight, and a Lady bright - Wi’ the green hollin abune their bree. - - “There the Outlaw keeps five hundred men, - He keeps a royal companie; - His merrymen in ae livery clad, - O’ the Lincoln green sae gay to see: - He and his Lady in purple clad; - Oh! gin they live right royallie! - - “He says, yon forest is his awn; - He wan it frae the Southronie; - Sae as he wan it, sae will he keep it, - Contrair all Kings in Christentie.” - - “Gar warn me Perthshire, and Angus baith, - Fife, up and down, and Lothians three, - And graith my horse!” said our noble King, - “For to Ettrick Forest hie will I me.” - - Then word is gane the Outlaw till, - In Ettrick Forest, where dwelleth he, - That the King was coming to his countrie, - To conquer baith his lands and he. - - “I mak’ a vow,” the Outlaw said, - “I mak’ a vow, and that trulie: - Were there but three men to tak’ my part, - Yon King’s coming full dear suld be!” - - Then messengers he called forth, - And bade them hie them speedilye: - “Ane of ye gae to Halliday, - The Laird of the Corehead is he. - - “He certain is my sister’s son; - Bid him come quick and succor me; - The King comes on for Ettrick Forest, - And landless men we a’ will be.” - - “What news? what news?” said Halliday, - “Man, frae thy master unto me?” - “Not as ye would, seeking your aid; - The King’s his mortal enemie.” - - “Ay, by my troth!” said Halliday, - “Even for that it repenteth me; - For gif he lose fair Ettrick Forest, - He’ll tak’ fair Moffatdale frae me. - - “I’ll meet him wi’ five hundred men, - And surely mair, if mae may be; - And before he gets the forest fair, - We a’ will die on Newark Lee!” - - The Outlaw called a messenger, - And bid him hie him speedilye - To Andrew Murray of Cockpool: - “That man’s a dear cousin to me; - Desire him come and mak’ me aid - With a’ the power that he may be.” - - “It stands me hard,” Andrew Murray said, - “Judge gif it stand na hard wi’ me; - To enter against a King wi’ crown, - And set my lands in jeopardie! - Yet, if I come not on the day, - Surely at night he sall me see.” - - To Sir James Murray of Traquair, - A message came right speedilye: - “What news? what news?” James Murray said, - “Man, frae thy master unto me?” - - “What needs I tell? for weel ye ken - The King’s his mortal enemie; - And now he is coming to Ettrick Forest, - And landless men ye a’ will be.” - - “And, by my troth,” James Murray said, - “Wi’ that Outlaw will I live and dee; - The King has gifted my lands lang syne,-- - It cannot be nae warse wi’ me.” - - - PART IV - - The King was coming thro’ Caddon Ford, - And full five thousand men was he; - They saw the dark forest them before, - They thought it awsome for to see. - - Then spak’ the Lord hight Hamilton, - And to the noble King said he, - “My sovereign Liege, some counsel tak’, - First at your nobles, syne at me. - - “Desire him meet thee at Permanscore, - And bring four in his companie; - Five Earls sall gang yoursell before, - Gude cause that you suld honoured be. - - “And, gif he refuses to do that, - We’ll conquer baith his lands and he; - There sall never a Murray, after him, - Hold land in Ettrick Forest free.” - - The King then called a gentleman, - Royal banner-bearer there was he, - James Hoppringle of Torsonse by name; - He cam’ and kneeled upon his knee. - - “Welcome, James Pringle of Torsonse! - A message ye maun gang for me: - Ye maun gae to yon Outlaw Murray, - Surely where boldly bideth he. - - “Bid him meet me at Permanscore, - And bring four in his companie; - Five Earls sall come wi’ mysell, - Gude reason I suld honoured be. - - “And gif he refuses to do that, - Bid him look for nae good o’ me; - There sall never a Murray, after him, - Have land in Ettrick Forest free.” - - James cam’ before the Outlaw keen, - And served him in his ain degree: - “Welcome, James Pringle of Torsonse! - What message frae the King to me?” - - “He bids ye meet him at Permanscore, - And bring four in your company; - Five Earls sall gang himsell before, - Nae mair in number will he be. - - “And gif you refuse to do that, - (I freely here upgive wi’ thee,) - He’ll cast yon bonny Castle down, - And mak’ a widow o’ that gay Ladye. - - “He’ll loose yon bloodhound Borderers, - Wi’ fire and sword to follow thee; - There will never a Murray, after thysell, - Have land in Ettrick Forest free.” - - “It stands me hard,” the Outlaw said, - “Judge gif it stands na hard wi’ me: - What reck o’ the losing of mysell, - But a’ my offspring after me! - - “Auld Halliday, young Halliday, - Ye sall be twa to gang wi’ me; - Andrew Murray and Sir James Murray, - We’ll be nae mae in companie.” - - When that they cam’ before the King, - They fell before him on their knee: - “Grant mercy, mercy, noble King! - E’en for His sake that dyed on tree.” - - “Sicken like mercy sall ye have, - On gallows ye sall hangit be!” - “Over God’s forbode,” quoth the Outlaw then, - “I hope your Grace will better be! - Else, ere you come to Edinburgh port, - I trow thin guarded sall ye be. - - “Thir lands of Ettrick Forest fair, - I wan them from the enemie; - Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them, - Contrair a’ Kings in Christentie.” - - All the nobles the King about, - Said pity it were to see him dee. - “Yet grant me mercy, sovereign Prince, - Extend your favour unto me! - - “I’ll give thee the keys of my Castle, - Wi’ the blessing o’ my gay Ladye, - Gin thou’lt make me sheriff of this forest, - And a’ my offspring after me.” - - “Wilt thou give me the keys of thy Castle, - Wi’ the blessing of thy gay Ladye? - I’se make thee sheriff of Ettrick Forest, - Surely while upward grows the tree; - If you be not traitor to the King, - Forfaulted sall thou never be.” - - “But, Prince, what sall come o’ my men? - When I gae back, traitor they’ll ca’ me. - I had rather lose my life and land, - Ere my merrymen rebuked me.” - - “Will your merrymen amend their lives, - And a’ their pardons I grant thee? - Now, name thy lands where’er they lie, - And here I render them to thee.” - - “Fair Philiphaugh is mine by right, - And Lewinshope still mine shall be; - Newark, Foulshiells, and Tinnies baith, - My bow and arrow purchased me. - - “And I have native steads to me, - The Newark Lee and Hanginshaw; - I have mony steads in Ettrick Forest, - But them by name I dinna knaw.” - - The keys of the Castle he gave the King, - Wi’ the blessing o’ his fair Ladye; - He was made sheriff of Ettrick Forest, - Surely while upward grows the tree; - And if he was na traitor to the King, - Forfaulted he suld never be. - - Wha ever heard, in ony times, - Sicken an outlaw in his degree - Sic favour get before a King, - As did Outlaw Murray of the forest free? - - _Englished by William Allingham_ - - -VALENTINE AND URSINE - - - PART I - - When Flora ’gins to deck the fields - With colours fresh and fine, - Then holy clerks their matins sing - To good Saint Valentine! - - The King of France that morning fair - He would a-hunting ride: - To Artois forest prancing forth - In all his princely pride. - - To grace his sports a courtly train - Of gallant peers attend; - And with their loud and cheerful cries - The hills and valleys rend. - - Through the deep forest swift they pass, - Through woods and thickets wild; - When down within a lonely dell - They found a new-born child; - - All in a scarlet kercher laid - Of silk so fine and thin; - A golden mantle wrapt him round, - Pinned with a silver pin. - - The sudden sight surprised them all; - The courtiers gathered round; - They look, they call, the mother seek; - No mother could be found. - - At length the King himself drew near, - And as he gazing stands, - The pretty babe looked up and smiled, - And stretched his little hands. - - “Now, by the rood,” King Pepin says, - “This child is passing fair; - I wot he is of gentle blood; - Perhaps some Prince’s heir. - - “Go bear him home unto my Court - With all the care ye may: - Let him be christened Valentine, - In honour of this day. - - “And look me out some cunning nurse; - Well nurtured let him be; - Nor aught be wanting that becomes - A bairn of high degree.” - - They looked him out a cunning nurse, - And nurtured well was he; - Nor aught was wanting that became - A bairn of high degree. - - - PART II - - Thus grew the little Valentine, - Beloved of King and peers; - And showed in all he spake or did - A wit beyond his years. - - But chief in gallant feats of arms - He did himself advance, - That ere he grew to man’s estate - He had no peer in France. - - And now the early down began - To shade his youthful chin; - When Valentine was dubbed a Knight, - That he might glory win. - - “A boon, a boon, my gracious Liege, - I beg a boon of thee! - The first adventure that befalls - May be reserved for me.” - - “The first adventure shall be thine;” - The King did smiling say. - Nor many days, when lo! there came - Three palmers clad in gray. - - “Help, gracious Lord,” they weeping said; - And knelt, as it was meet; - “From Artois forest we be come, - With weak and weary feet. - - “Within those deep and dreary woods - There wends a savage boy; - Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield - Thy subjects dire annoy. - - “’Mong ruthless bears he sure was bred; - He lurks within their den: - With bears he lives; with bears he feeds, - And drinks the blood of men. - - “To more than savage strength he joins - A more than human skill; - For arms, nor cunning may suffice - His cruel rage to still.” - - Up then rose Sir Valentine - And claimed that arduous deed. - “Go forth and conquer,” said the King, - “And great shall be thy meed.” - - Well mounted on a milk-white steed, - His armour white as snow; - As well beseemed a virgin Knight, - Who ne’er had fought a foe, - - To Artois forest he repairs - With all the haste he may; - And soon he spies the savage youth - A-rending of his prey. - - His unkempt hair all matted hung - His shaggy shoulders round; - His eager eye all fiery glowed; - His face with fury frowned. - - Like eagles’ talons grew his nails; - His limbs were thick and strong; - And dreadful was the knotted oak - He bare with him along. - - Soon as Sir Valentine approached, - He starts with sudden spring; - And yelling forth a hideous howl, - He made the forests ring. - - As when a tiger fierce and fell - Hath spied a passing roe, - And leaps at once upon his throat; - So sprung the savage foe; - - So lightly leaped with furious force - The gentle Knight to seize; - But met his tall uplifted spear, - Which sunk him on his knees. - - A second stroke so stiff and stern - Had laid the savage low; - But springing up, he raised his club - And aimed a dreadful blow. - -[Illustration: BUT SPRINGING UP, HE RAISED HIS CLUB AND AIMED A -DREADFUL BLOW] - - The watchful warrior bent his head, - And shunned the coming stroke; - Upon his taper spear it fell, - And all to shivers broke. - - Then lighting nimbly from his steed, - He drew his burnisht brand. - The savage quick as lightning flew - To wrest it from his hand. - - Three times he grasped the silver hilt; - Three times he felt the blade; - Three times it fell with furious force; - Three ghastly wounds it made. - - Now with redoubled rage he roared; - His eye-ball flashed with fire; - Each hairy limb with fury shook; - And all his heart was ire. - - Then closing fast with furious gripe - He clasped the champion round, - And with a strong and sudden twist - He laid him on the ground. - - But soon the Knight, with active spring, - O’erturned his hairy foe; - And now between their sturdy fists - Past many a bruising blow. - - They rolled and grappled on the ground, - And there they struggled long: - Skillful and active was the Knight; - The savage he was strong. - - But brutal force and savage strength - To art and skill must yield: - Sir Valentine at length prevailed, - And won the well-fought field. - - Then binding straight his conquered foe - Fast with an iron chain, - He ties him to his horse’s tail, - And leads him o’er the plain. - - To Court his hairy captive soon - Sir Valentine doth bring; - And kneeling down upon his knee, - Presents him to the King. - - With loss of blood and loss of strength - The savage tamer grew; - And to Sir Valentine became - A servant, tried and true. - - And ’cause with bears he erst was bred, - Ursine they call his name; - A name which unto future times - The Muses shall proclaim. - - - PART III - - In high renown with Prince and peer - Now lived Sir Valentine; - His high renown with Prince and peer - Made envious hearts repine. - - It chanced the King upon a day - Prepared a sumptuous feast; - And there came lords and dainty dames, - And many a noble guest. - - Amid their cups that freely flowed, - Their revelry and mirth, - A youthful Knight taxed Valentine - Of base and doubtful birth. - - The foul reproach, so grossly urged, - His generous heart did wound; - And strait he vowed he ne’er would rest - Till he his parents found. - - Then bidding King and peers adieu, - Early one summer’s day, - With faithful Ursine by his side, - From Court he took his way. - - O’er hill and valley, moss and moor, - For many a day they pass; - At length, upon a moated lake, - They found a bridge of brass. - - Beyond it rose a Castle fair, - Y-built of marble-stone; - The battlements were gilt with gold, - And glittered in the sun. - - Beneath the bridge, with strange device, - A hundred bells were hung; - That man, nor beast, might pass thereon - But strait their larum rung. - - This quickly found the youthful pair, - Who boldly crossing o’er, - The jangling sound bedeafed their ears, - And rung from shore to shore. - - Quick at the sound the castle-gates - Unlocked and opened wide, - And strait a Giant huge and grim - Stalked forth with stately pride. - - “Now yield you, caitiffs, to my will!” - He cried with hideous roar; - “Or else the wolves shall eat your flesh, - And ravens drink your gore.” - - “Vain boaster,” said the youthful Knight, - “I scorn thy threats and thee; - I trust to force thy brazen gates, - And set thy captives free.” - - Then putting spurs unto his steed, - He aimed a dreadful thrust; - The spear against the Giant glanced - And caused the blood to burst. - - Mad and outrageous with the pain, - He whirled his mace of steel; - The very wind of such a blow - Had made the champion reel. - - It haply missed; and now the Knight - His glittering sword displayed, - And riding round with whirlwind speed - Oft made him feel the blade. - - As when a large and monstrous oak - Unceasing axes hew, - So fast around the Giant’s limbs - The blows quick-darting flew. - - As when the boughs with hideous fall - Some hapless woodman crush, - With such a force the enormous foe - Did on the champion rush. - - A fearful blow, alas! there came; - Both horse and Knight it took, - And laid them senseless in the dust; - So fatal was the stroke. - - Then smiling forth a hideous grin, - The Giant strides in haste, - And, stooping, aims a second stroke: - “Now caitiff breathe thy last!” - - But ere it fell, two thundering blows - Upon his skull descend; - From Ursine’s knotty club they came, - Who ran to save his friend. - - Down sunk the Giant gaping wide, - And rolling his grim eyes; - The hairy youth repeats his blows; - He gasps, he groans, he dies. - - - PART IV - - Quickly Sir Valentine revived - With Ursine’s timely care; - And now to search the castle walls - The venturous youths repair. - - The blood and bones of murdered Knights - They found where’er they came; - At length within a lonely cell - They saw a mournful dame. - - Her gentle eyes were dimmed with tears; - Her cheeks were pale with woe; - And long Sir Valentine besought - Her doleful tale to know. - - “Alas! young Knight,” she weeping said, - “Condole my wretched fate; - A childless mother here you see; - A wife without a mate. - - “These twenty winters here forlorn - I’ve drawn my hated breath; - Sole witness of a monster’s crimes, - And wishing aye for death. - - “Know, I am sister of a King, - And in my early years - Was married to a mighty Prince, - The fairest of his peers. - - “With him I sweetly lived in love - A twelvemonth and a day; - When, lo! a foul and treacherous priest - Y-wrought our loves’ decay. - - “With treason, villainy, and wrong, - My goodness he repayed; - With jealous doubts he filled my Lord, - And me to woe betrayed; - - “But, ’cause I then was ill, my Lord - At length my life he spared; - But bade me instant quit the realm, - One trusty Knight my guard. - - “Forth on my journey I depart, - Oppressed with grief and woe, - And tow’rds my brother’s distant Court, - With breaking heart, I go. - - “Long time thro’ sundry foreign lands - We slowly pace forlorn, - At length within a forest wild, - I had two babies born. - - “The eldest fair and smooth, as snow - That tips the mountain hoar; - The younger’s little body rough - With hairs was covered o’er. - - “But here afresh begin my woes: - While tender care I took - To shield my eldest from the cold, - And wrap him in my cloak, - - “A prowling bear burst from the wood, - And seized my younger son; - Affection lent my weakness wings - And after them I run. - - “But all forewearied, weak and spent, - I quickly swooned away; - And there beneath the greenwood shade - Long time I lifeless lay. - - “At length the Knight brought me relief, - And raised me from the ground; - But neither of my pretty babes - Could ever more be found. - - “And, while in search we wandered far, - We met that Giant grim, - Who ruthless slew my trusty Knight, - And bare me off with him. - - “But charmed by Heaven, or else my griefs, - He offered me no wrong; - Save that within these lonely walls - I’ve been immured so long.” - - “Now, surely,” said the youthful Knight, - “You are Lady Bellisance, - Wife to the Grecian Emperor; - Your brother’s King of France. - - “For in your royal brother’s Court - Myself my breeding had; - Where oft the story of your woes - Hath made my bosom sad. - - “If so, know your accuser’s dead, - And dying owned his crime; - And long your Lord hath sought you out - Thro’ every foreign clime. - - “And when no tidings he could learn - Of his much-wronged wife, - He vowed thenceforth within his Court - To lead a hermit’s life.” - - “Now Heaven is kind!” the Lady said; - And dropt a joyful tear; - “Shall I once more behold my Lord? - That Lord I love so dear?” - - “But, Madam,” said Sir Valentine, - And knelt upon his knee; - “Know you the cloak that wrapt your babe, - If you the same should see?” - - And pulling forth the cloth of gold - In which himself was found, - The Lady gave a sudden shriek, - And fainted on the ground. - - But by his pious care revived, - His tale she heard anon; - And soon by other tokens found - He was indeed her son. - - “But who’s this hairy youth?” she said; - “He much resembles thee; - The bear devoured my younger son, - Or sure that son were he.” - - “Madam, this youth with bears was bred, - And reared within their den. - But recollect ye any mark - To know your son again?” - - “Upon his little side,” quoth she, - “Was stamped a bloody rose.” - “Here, Lady, see the crimson mark - Upon his body grows!” - - Then clasping both her new-found sons, - She bathed their cheeks with tears; - And soon towards her brother’s Court - Her joyful course she steers. - - What pen can paint King Pepin’s joy, - His sister thus restored! - And soon a messenger was sent - To cheer her drooping Lord, - - Who came in haste with all his peers, - To fetch her home to Greece; - Where many happy years they reigned - In perfect love and peace. - - To them Sir Ursine did succeed, - And long the sceptre bare. - Sir Valentine he stayed in France, - And was his uncle’s heir. - - _Attributed in part to Bishop Percy - (Done into modern spelling)_ - - - - -O’ PILGRIMAGE AND SOULS SO STRONG - - - - -THE PILGRIM - - _What Danger is the Pilgrim in? - How many are his Foes? - How many ways there are to Sin, - No living Mortal knows._ - - _Some of the Ditch shy are, yet can - Lie tumbling on the Myre, - Some, tho’ they shun the Frying-Pan, - Do leap into the Fire._ - - _John Bunyan_ - - -THE HEART OF THE BRUCE - - - PART I - - The good Lord Douglas paced the deck, - And oh, his face was wan! - Unlike the flush it used to wear - When in the battle-van.-- - - “Come hither, come hither, my trusty Knight, - Sir Simon of the Lee; - There is a freit lies near my soul - I fain would tell to thee. - - “Thou know’st the words King Robert spoke - Upon his dying day: - How he bade me take his noble Heart - And carry it far away; - - “And lay it in the holy soil - Where once the Saviour trod, - Since he might not bear the blessed Cross, - Nor strike one blow for God. - - “Last night as in my bed I lay, - I dreamed a dreary dream:-- - Methought I saw a Pilgrim stand - In the moonlight’s quivering beam. - - “His robe was of the azure dye, - Snow-white his scattered hairs, - And even such a cross he bore - As good Saint Andrew bears. - - “‘Why go ye forth, Lord James,’ he said, - ‘With spear and belted brand? - Why do you take its dearest pledge - From this our Scottish land? - - “‘The sultry breeze of Galilee - Creeps through its groves of palm, - The olives on the Holy Mount - Stand glittering in the calm. - - “‘But ’tis not there that Scotland’s Heart - Shall rest by God’s decree, - Till the great Angel calls the dead - To rise from earth and sea! - - “‘Lord James of Douglas, mark my rede! - That Heart shall pass once more - In fiery fight against the foe, - As it was wont of yore. - - “‘And it shall pass beneath the Cross, - And save King Robert’s vow; - But other hands shall bear it back, - Not, James of Douglas, thou!’ - - “Now, by thy knightly faith, I pray, - Sir Simon of the Lee-- - For truer friend had never man - Than thou hast been to me-- - - “If ne’er upon the Holy Land - ’Tis mine in life to tread, - Bear thou to Scotland’s kindly earth - The relics of her dead.” - - The tear was in Sir Simon’s eye - As he wrung the warrior’s hand-- - “Betide me weal, betide me woe, - I’ll hold by thy command. - - “But if in battle-front, Lord James, - ’Tis ours once more to ride, - Nor force of man, nor craft of fiend, - Shall cleave me from thy side!” - - - PART II - - And aye we sailed and aye we sailed, - Across the weary sea, - Until one morn the coast of Spain - Rose grimly on our lee. - - And as we rounded to the port, - Beneath the watch-tower’s wall, - We heard the clash of the atabals, - And the trumpet’s wavering call. - - “Why sounds yon Eastern music here - So wantonly and long, - And whose the crowd of armed men - That round yon standard throng?” - - “The Moors have come from Africa - To spoil and waste and slay, - And King Alonzo of Castile - Must fight with them to-day.” - - “Now shame it were,” cried good Lord James, - “Shall never be said of me, - That I and mine have turned aside - From the Cross in jeopardie! - - “Have down, have down, my merrymen all-- - Have down unto the plain; - We’ll let the Scottish lion loose - Within the fields of Spain!” - - “Now welcome to me, noble Lord, - Thou and thy stalwart power; - Dear is the sight of a Christian Knight, - Who comes in such an hour! - - “Is it for bond or faith you come, - Or yet for golden fee? - Or bring ye France’s lilies here, - Or the flower of Burgundie?” - - “God greet thee well, thou valiant King, - Thee and thy belted peers-- - Sir James of Douglas am I called, - And these are Scottish spears. - - “We do not fight for bond or plight, - Nor yet for golden fee; - But for the sake of our blessed Lord, - Who died upon the tree. - - “We bring our great King Robert’s Heart - Across the weltering wave, - To lay it in the holy soil - Hard by the Saviour’s grave. - - “True Pilgrims we, by land or sea, - Where danger bars the way; - And therefore are we here, Lord King, - To ride with thee this day!” - - The King has bent his stately head, - And the tears were in his eyne-- - “God’s blessing on thee, noble Knight, - For this brave thought of thine! - - “I know thy name full well, Lord James; - And honoured may I be, - That those who fought beside the Bruce - Should fight this day for me! - - “Take thou the leading of the van, - And charge the Moors amain; - There is not such a lance as thine - In all the host of Spain!” - - The Douglas turned towards us then, - Oh, but his glance was high!-- - “There is not one of all my men - But is as bold as I. - - “There is not one of all my Knights - But bears as true a spear-- - Then onwards, Scottish gentlemen, - And think King Robert’s here!” - - - PART III - - The trumpets blew, the cross-bolts flew, - The arrows flashed like flame, - As spur in side, and spear in rest, - Against the foe we came. - - And many a bearded Saracen - Went down, both horse and man; - For through their ranks we rode like corn, - So furiously we ran! - - But in behind our path they closed, - Though fain to let us through, - For they were forty thousand men, - And we were wondrous few. - - We might not see a lance’s length, - So dense was their array, - But the long fell sweep of the Scottish blade - Still held them hard at bay. - - “Make in! make in!” Lord Douglas cried-- - “Make in, my brethren dear! - Sir William of Saint Clair is down; - We may not leave him here!” - - But thicker, thicker grew the swarm, - And sharper shot the rain, - And the horses reared amid the press, - But they would not charge again. - - “Now Jesu help thee,” said Lord James, - “Thou kind and true Saint Clair! - An’ if I may not bring thee off, - I’ll die beside thee there!” - - Then in his stirrups up he stood, - So lionlike and bold, - And held the precious Heart aloft - All in its case of gold. - - He flung it from him, far ahead, - And never spake he more, - But--“Pass thee first, thou dauntless Heart, - As thou wert wont of yore!” - - The roar of fight rose fiercer yet, - And heavier still the stour, - Till the spears of Spain came shivering in, - And swept away the Moor. - - “Now praised be God, the day is won! - They fly o’er flood and fell-- - Why dost thou draw the rein so hard, - Good Knight, that fought so well?” - - “Oh, ride ye on, Lord King!” he said, - “And leave the dead to me, - For I must keep the dreariest watch - That ever I shall dree! - - “There lies, above his master’s Heart, - The Douglas, stark and grim; - And woe is me I should be here, - Not side by side with him!” - - The King he lighted from his horse, - He flung his brand away, - And took the Douglas by the hand, - So stately as he lay. - - “God give thee rest, thou valiant soul! - That fought so well for Spain; - I’d rather half my land were gone, - So thou wert here again!” - - We bore the good Lord James away, - And the priceless Heart we bore, - And heavily we steered our ship - Towards the Scottish shore. - - No welcome greeted our return, - Nor clang of martial tread, - But all were dumb and hushed as death - Before the mighty dead. - - We laid our chief in Douglas Kirk, - The Heart in fair Melrose; - And woeful men were we that day-- - God grant their souls repose! - - _William Edmondstoune Aytoun. (Condensed)_ - - -BARCLAY OF URY - - Up the streets of Aberdeen, - By the kirk and college green, - Rode the Laird of Ury; - Close behind him, close beside, - Foul of mouth and evil-eyed, - Pressed the mob in fury. - - Flouted him the drunken churl, - Jeered at him the serving-girl, - Prompt to please her master; - And the begging carlin, late - Fed and clothed at Ury’s gate, - Cursed him as he passed her. - - Yet, with calm and stately mien, - Up the streets of Aberdeen - Came he slowly riding; - And, to all he saw and heard, - Answering not with bitter word, - Turning not for chiding. - - Came a troop with broadswords swinging, - Bits and bridles sharply ringing, - Loose and free and froward; - Quoth the foremost, “Ride him down! - Push him! prick him! through the town - Drive the Quaker coward!” - - But from out the thickening crowd - Cried a sudden voice and loud; - “Barclay! Ho! a Barclay!” - And the old man at his side - Saw a comrade, battle-tried, - Scarred and sunburned darkly, - - Who with ready weapon bare, - Fronting to the troopers there, - Cried aloud: “God save us! - Call ye coward him who stood - Ankle deep in Lützen’s blood, - With the brave Gustavus?” - - “Nay, I do not need thy sword, - Comrade mine,” said Ury’s lord; - “Put it up, I pray thee: - Passive to His holy will, - Trust I in my Master still, - Even though He slay me. - - “Pledges of thy love and faith, - Proved on many a field of death, - Not by me are needed.” - Marvelled much that henchman bold, - That his Laird, so stout of old, - Now so meekly pleaded. - - “Woe’s the day!” he sadly said, - With a slowly shaking head, - And a look of pity; - “Ury’s honest lord reviled, - Mock of knave and sport of child, - In his own good city! - - “Speak the word, and, master mine, - As we charged on Tilly’s line, - And his Walloon lancers, - Smiting thro’ their midst we’ll teach - Civil look and decent speech - To these boyish prancers!” - - “Marvel not, mine ancient friend, - Like beginning, like the end,” - Quoth the Laird of Ury; - “Is the sinful servant more - Than his gracious Lord who bore - Bonds and stripes in Jewry? - - “Give me joy that in His name, - I can bear, with patient frame, - All these vain ones offer; - While for them He suffereth long, - Shall I answer wrong with wrong, - Scoffing with the scoffer? - - “Happier I, with loss of all, - Hunted, outlawed, held in thrall, - With few friends to greet me, - Than when reeve and squire were seen, - Riding out from Aberdeen, - With bared heads to meet me. - - “When each goodwife, o’er and o’er, - Blessed me as I passed her door; - And the snooded daughter, - Through her casement glancing down, - Smiled on him who bore renown - From red fields of slaughter. - - “Hard to feel the stranger’s scoff, - Hard the old friend’s falling off, - Hard to learn forgiving; - But the Lord His own rewards, - And His love with theirs accords, - Warm and fresh and living. - - “Through this dark and stormy night - Faith beholds a feeble light, - Up the blackness streaking; - Knowing God’s own time is best, - In a patient hope I rest - For the full day-breaking!” - - So the Laird of Ury said, - Turning slow his horse’s head, - Towards the Tolbooth prison, - Where through iron gates he heard - Poor disciples of the Word - Preach of Christ arisen! - - Not in vain, Confessor old, - Unto us the tale is told - Of thy day of trial; - Every age on him who strays - From its broad and beaten ways - Pours its seven-fold vial. - - Happy he whose inward ear - Angel comfortings can hear, - O’er the rabble’s laughter; - And while Hatred’s fagots burn, - Glimpses through the smoke discern - Of the good hereafter. - - Knowing this, that never yet - Share of Truth was vainly set - In the world’s wide fallow; - After hands shall sow the seed, - After hands from hill and mead - Reap the harvests yellow. - - Thus, with somewhat of the Seer, - Must the moral pioneer - From the future borrow; - Clothe the waste with dreams of grain, - And, on midnight’s sky of rain, - Paint the golden morrow! - - _John Greenleaf Whittier_ - - -THE TOUCHSTONE - - A Man there came, whence none could tell, - Bearing a Touchstone in his hand, - And testing all things in the land - By its unerring spell. - - A thousand transformations rose - From fair to foul, from foul to fair; - The golden crown he did not spare, - Nor scorn the beggar’s clothes. - - Of heirloom jewels, prized so much, - Were many changed to chips and clods; - And even statues of the gods - Crumbled beneath its touch. - - Then angrily the people cried, - “The loss outweighs the profit far; - Our goods suffice us as they are: - We will not have them tried.” - - And, since they could not so avail - To check his unrelenting quest, - They seized him, saying, “Let him test - How real is our jail!” - - But though they slew him with the sword, - And in a fire his Touchstone burned, - Its doings could not be o’erturned, - Its undoings restored. - - And when to stop all future harm, - They strewed its ashes on the breeze, - They little guessed each grain of these, - Conveyed the perfect charm. - - _William Allingham_ - - -SIR GALAHAD - -(_The Quest of the Holy Grail_) - - My good blade carves the casques of men, - My tough lance thrusteth sure, - My strength is as the strength of ten, - Because my heart is pure. - The shattering trumpet shrilleth high, - The hard brands shiver on the steel, - The splintered spear-shafts crack and fly, - The horse and rider reel; - They reel, they roll in clanging lists, - And when the tide of combat stands, - Perfume and flowers fall in showers, - That lightly rain from ladies’ hands. - - How sweet are looks that ladies bend - On whom their favours fall! - For them I battle till the end, - To save from shame and thrall; - But all my heart is drawn above, - My knees are bowed in crypt and shrine, - I never felt the kiss of love, - Nor maiden’s hand in mine. - More bounteous aspects on me beam, - Me mightier transports move and thrill; - So keep I fair thro’ faith and prayer, - A virgin heart in work and will. - - When down the stormy crescent goes, - A light before me swims, - Between dark stems the forest glows, - I hear a noise of hymns. - Then by some secret shrine I ride; - I hear a voice, but none are there; - The stalls are void, the doors are wide, - The tapers burning fair. - Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth, - The silver vessels sparkle clean, - The shrill bell rings, the censer swings, - And solemn chaunts resound between. - - Sometimes on lonely mountain-meres - I find a magic bark. - I leap on board; no helmsman steers; - I float till all is dark. - A gentle sound, an awful light! - Three Angels bear the Holy Grail; - With folded feet, in stoles of white, - On sleeping wings they sail. - Ah, blessed vision! blood of God! - My spirit beats her mortal bars, - As down dark tides, the glory slides, - And starlike mingles with the stars. - - When on my goodly charger borne - Thro’ dreaming towns I go, - The cock crows ere the Christmas morn, - The streets are dumb with snow. - The tempest crackles on the leads, - And, ringing, springs from brand and mail - But o’er the dark a glory spreads, - And gilds the driving hail. - I leave the plain, I climb the height; - No branchy thicket shelter yields; - But blessed forms in whistling storms - Fly o’er waste fens and windy fields. - - A maiden Knight--to me is given - Such hope, I know not fear; - I yearn to breathe the airs of Heaven - That often meet me here. - I muse on joy that will not cease, - Pure spaces clothed in living beams, - Pure lilies of eternal peace, - Whose odours haunt my dreams; - And, stricken by an Angel’s hand, - This mortal armour that I wear, - This weight and size, this heart and eyes, - Are touched, are turned to finest air. - - The clouds are broken in the sky, - And thro’ the mountain-walls - A rolling organ-harmony - Swells up and shakes and falls. - Then move the trees, the copses nod, - Wings flutter, voices hover clear; - “O just and faithful Knight of God! - Ride on! the prize is near.” - So pass I hostel, hall, and grange; - By bridge and ford, by park and pale, - All-armed I ride, whate’er betide, - Until I find the Holy Grail. - - _Alfred, Lord Tennyson_ - - -PILGRIMAGE - - Give me my Scallop-shell of Quiet, - My Staff of Faith to walk upon; - My Scrip of Joy, immortal diet; - My Bottle of Salvation. - My Gown of Glory, (Hope’s true Gage) - And thus I’ll take my Pilgrimage. - - Blood must be my Bodie’s only Balmer, - Whilst my Soul like a quiet Palmer, - Travelleth towards the Land of Heaven, - No other Balm will there be given. - - Over the Silver Mountains, - Where spring the Nectar Fountains, - There will I kiss the Bowl of Bliss, - And drink mine everlasting fill - Upon every milken Hill. - My Soul will be a-dry before, - But after, it will thirst no more. - I’ll take them first, to quench my Thirst, - And taste of Nectar’s Suckets, - At those clear Wells - Where Sweetness dwells, - Drawn up by Saints in crystal buckets. - - More peaceful Pilgrims I shall see, - That have cast off their Rags of Clay, - And walk apparelled fresh like me, - And when our Bodies and all we - Are filled with Immortality, - Then the blessed Parts we’ll travel, - Strowed with Rubies thick as Gravel, - Ceilings of Diamonds, Saphire Flowers, - High Walls of Coral, and pearly Bowers. - - From thence to Heaven’s bribeless Hall, - Where no corrupted Voices brawl, - No Cause deferred, no vain spent Journey, - For there _Christ_ is the King’s Attorney, - Who pleads for all without Degrees, - And He hath Angels, but no Fees. - - And this is mine eternal Plea, - To Him that made Heaven, Earth and Sea, - That since my Flesh must die so soon, - And want a Head to dine next Noon, - Just at the Stroke, when my Veins start and spread, - Set on my Soul an everlasting Head. - Then am I ready, like a Palmer fit, - To tread those blest Paths which before I writ. - - _Sir Walter Raleigh._ (_Condensed_) - - -THE ROYAL COURT - - In Royal Courts my Soul hath slept, - On royal meats I’ve fed; - Royal favour sheltered me, - My Soul was wellnigh dead. - - The royal eye’s now turned away, - And scorn and dearth are mine; - False-hearted friends are fled afar, - My Soul awakes to pine. - - “Oh! where, my Soul, seek refuge now, - While mocking foes pursue? - Oh! whither shall I flee away, - Thou Soul so full of rue?” - - “Turn, turn unto this greenwood shade, - And rest beneath His Tree, - With little birds on every bough - To sing His peace to thee. - - “A loyal King doth here abide, - Here is his Royal Court; - His carpet green’s enamelled bright - With flowers of every sort. - - “His subjects, all the wildwood things, - He feedeth from His hand; - His messengers are birds and winds, - His will they understand. - - “His table is bedecked with moss; - His almoners are bees, - The berry-vine, the leaping stream, - And all the fruitful trees. - - “Here shalt thou find a Royal Court - Where flatt’ry holds no sway; - And gentle is the royal eye, - Here friendship comes to stay. - - “Turn, turn unto the sweet greenwood, - O happy One! and sing - Praise with the birds and all good life, - To Christ who is our King!” - - _Modern, anon._ - - -TRUE VALOUR - - _Who would true Valour see, - Let him come hither; - One here will constant be, - Come Wind, come Weather. - There’s no_ Discouragement, - _Shall make him once_ Relent, - _His first avow’d_ Intent, - To be a Pilgrim. - - _Who so beset him round, - With dismal_ Storys, - _Do but themselves confound; - His Strength the_ more is. - _No_ Lyon _can him fright, - He’l with a_ Gyant _Fight, - But he will have a right_, - To be a Pilgrim. - - Hobgoblin, _nor foul_ Fiend, - _Can_ daunt _his Spirit: - He knows, he_ at the end, - Shall Life Inherit. - _Then Fancies fly away, - He’l fear not what men say_, - He’l _labor Night and Day_, - To be a Pilgrim. - - _John Bunyan (from reprint of first edition)_ - - -PEACE - - Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell, I humbly crave? - Let me once know. - I sought thee in a secret cave, - And asked if Peace were there. - A hollow wind did seem to answer, “No! - Go seek elsewhere.” - - I did; and going did a Rainbow note: - “Surely,” thought I, - “This is the lace of Peace’s coat; - I will search out the matter.” - But while I looked the clouds immediately - Did break and scatter. - - Then went I to a garden, and did spy - A gallant flower,-- - The Crown-Imperial. “Sure,” said I, - “Peace at the root must dwell.” - But when I digged, I saw a worm devour - What showed so well. - - At length I met a rev’rend, good, old man; - Whom, when for Peace - I did demand, he thus began: - “There was a Prince of old - At Salem dwelt, Who lived with good increase - Of flock and fold. - - “He sweetly lived; yet sweetness did not save - His life from foes. - But after death, out of His grave - There sprang twelve stalks of Wheat; - Which many wondering at got some of those - To plant and set. - - “It prospered strangely, and did soon disperse - Through all the Earth; - For they that taste it do rehearse - That virtue lies therein,-- - A secret virtue, bringing Peace and Mirth - By flight of Sin. - - “Take of this grain, which in my garden grows, - And grows for you: - Make bread of it; and that repose - And Peace, which ev’ry where - With so much earnestness you do pursue, - Is only there.” - - _George Herbert_ - - -THE THREE KINGS - - Three Kings came riding from far away, - Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar; - Three Wise Men out of the East were they, - And they travelled by night and they slept by day, - For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful Star. - - The Star was so beautiful, large, and clear, - That all the other stars of the sky, - Became a white mist in the atmosphere, - And by this they knew that the coming was near - Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy. - - Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows, - Three caskets of gold with golden keys; - Their robes were of crimson silk with rows - Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows, - Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees. - - And so the Three Kings rode into the West, - Through the dusk of night, over hill and dell. - And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast, - And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest, - With the people they met at some wayside well. - - “Of the Child that is born,” said Baltasar, - “Good people, I pray you, tell us the news; - For we in the East have seen his Star, - And have ridden fast, and have ridden far, - To find and worship the King of the Jews.” - - And the people answered, “You ask in vain; - We know of no King but Herod the Great!” - They thought the Wise Men were men insane, - As they spurred their horses across the plain, - Like riders in haste, and who cannot wait. - - And when they came to Jerusalem, - Herod the Great, who had heard this thing, - Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them; - And said, “Go down unto Bethlehem, - And bring me tidings of this new King.” - - So they rode away; and the Star stood still, - The only one in the grey of morn; - Yes, it stopped--it stood still of its own free will, - Right over Bethlehem on the hill, - The City of David, where Christ was born. - - And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard, - Through the silent street, till their horses turned - And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard; - But the windows were closed and the doors were barred, - And only a light in the stable burned. - - And cradled there in the scented hay, - In the air made sweet by the breath of kine, - The little Child in the manger lay, - The Child, that would be King one day - Of a Kingdom not human but divine. - - His mother Mary of Nazareth - Sat watching beside his place of rest, - Watching the even flow of his breath, - For the joy of life and the terror of death - Were mingled together in her breast. - - They laid their offerings at his feet: - The gold was their tribute to a King, - The frankincense, with its odour sweet, - Was for the Priest, the Paraclete, - The myrrh for the body’s burying. - - And the mother wondered and bowed her head, - And sat as still as a statue of stone; - Her heart was troubled yet comforted, - Remembering what the Angel had said - Of an endless reign and of David’s throne. - - Then the Kings rode out of the city gate, - With a clatter of hoofs in proud array; - But they went not back to Herod the Great, - For they knew his malice and feared his hate, - And returned to their homes by another way. - - _Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_ - - - - -APPENDIX - - - - -SUGGESTIONS - -FOR TEACHERS AND LEADERS OF POETRY HOURS - - _Primitive ballads have a straightforward felicity; many of them - a conjuring melody as befits verse and music born together. Their - gold is virgin, from the rock strata, and none the better for - refining and burnishing. No language is richer in them than the - English._ - - EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN - - _The old song of Chevy-Chase is the favourite ballad of the Common - People of England; and Ben Jonson used to say, he had rather have - been the author of it than of all his works.... For my own part, I - am so professed an admirer of this antiquated song, that I shall - give my reader a critic upon it._ - - JOSEPH ADDISON - - -Ballads are living organisms.[1] If a teacher requires a pupil -to analyze minutely a ballad according to rules of prosody and -literary criticism, the analysis ruthlessly destroys its spontaneous -folk-spirit. To dissect a ballad is literary slaughter. - -We all know how the cold-blooded analysis of choice masterpieces -destroys forever a pupil’s pleasure in reading them. The teacher of -ballad-literature should use the opposite method to that of literary -criticism. She should make her pupil delight in a ballad for its -own sake; for its unity, its swinging rhythm, its unself-conscious -expressions of emotion, and for the human life within it. - -A ballad treated in this sympathetic manner will become a thrilling -memory for the pupil to carry through the years. A ballad presented -thus has educational values besides that of giving joy. It may be -used to develop the pupil’s sense of time and rhythm; to enlarge his -vocabulary; to teach him to express his thoughts without affectation; -to give him ease in sight-reading of Scottish dialect and old English -spelling and to accustom him to obsolete words. As a memory exercise -for the pupil, the learning and recitation of ballads is unrivaled; -because young people memorize them without effort. And furthermore, -ballads have dramatic qualities that hold and move a mixed audience -of boys and girls of all ages--and of grown folk, too, for that -matter. - -But perhaps the most important educational function of ballad-literature -is that of being a safety-valve for the escape of new, fast-rising -feelings and enthusiasms of growing boys and girls, feelings that -throng and press for utterance. Young people do not know how to put -them into their own words, but find a wholesome and satisfying means -of expressing their emotions through learning and reciting ballads or -by reading them aloud. - - -THE BALLADS IN THIS BOOK - -There are many versions of old ballads, of some as many as twenty or -more; those most suitable for young people are given here. - -There are included here ballads in Scottish dialect, and in old -English wording with obsolete spelling and capitalization. These -versions may be used with confidence by the teacher, because no pains -have been spared in collating them by authoritative texts.[2] - -Even such differing forms as _o’_ or _o_; _wi’_ or _wi_; _e’e_ -or _ee_; _then_ for _than_ or _than_ for _then_; and variations -of proper names, as in “Proud Lady Margaret,” have been followed -according to the text used. - -Quotation marks, only, have been added for the convenience of the -young folk. A few objectionable, but unimportant, words have been -changed. In the version of “Chevy-Chase,” Bishop Percy’s _Folio -Manuscript_ has been followed with a few emendations from his -_Reliques_, including the capitalization of the first letter of -each line. The _Folio Manuscript_ is more authoritative than the -_Reliques_. - -Some of the ballads and verses which follow the old forms given -by collectors are: “The Stormy Winds Do Blow,” p. 2; “Sir Patrick -Spens,” p. 3; “The Dæmon Lover,” p. 7; “Chevy-Chase,” p. 21; “Proud -Lady Margaret,” p. 62; “The Famous Flower of Serving-Men,” p. 65; -“The Young Tamlane,” p. 255; “Thomas the Rhymer,” p. 93; “The Wee Wee -Man,” p. 114; “The Earl of Mar’s Daughter,” p. 115; “Kemp Owyne,” p. -122; “Fair Anny of Roch-royal,” p. 191; “The Cruel Sister,” p. 196; -“Blancheflour and Jellyflorice,” p. 209; “The Gay Goss-Hawk,” p. 218; -“Bonny Baby Livingston,” p. 224; “Young Beichan and Susie Pye,” p. -237; “The Wife of Usher’s Well,” p. 263; “Sir Roland,” p. 265; the -Robin Hood ballads, p. 290 ff.; “True Valour,” p. 355; “Pilgrimage,” -p. 351; “Peace,” p. 356. - -In striking and pleasing contrast to the old ballads are the modern -ones with capitalization to please modern children. It may be -noted that the texts of Keats’s “La Belle Dame,” and Campbell’s -“Earl March,” are different from the versions usually included in -children’s ballad-books. The texts followed here are those most -lately approved by literary critics. - - -PROGRAMME - -FOR A YEAR OF BALLAD-READING AND STUDY - -ONE PERIOD A WEEK FOR FORTY WEEKS - -Ways in which ballads may be used in the classroom or during Poetry -Hours: - -1. _Reading aloud for development of literary taste._ This is the -most important educational use of ballads. The teacher should read -them aloud to the class, giving them all their native swing and quick -pulsation. The minstrels, who composed them, often accented words to -suit the length of their lines; so if the reader will lend her voice -to the rhythm of the verse, the accents will fall where they belong. -Such words as _country_, _harper_, _singer_, _damsel_, _lady_, and -_battle_ should sometimes be accented on the last syllable, as -_countrý_, _singér_, _harpér_, _ladý_. - -2. _Memorizing and reciting._ Boys and girls enjoy learning ballads -by heart. They do so with astonishing ease. The teacher may assign -one ballad to the whole class; or she may divide the class into -sections and assign a ballad to each section. This should be done -at least two or three weeks before the period for recitation. The -teacher may then call on one or more of the pupils to recite. - -3. _Story-telling from the ballads._ The teacher may read aloud a -ballad. She should read it two or three times to the class. Then the -pupils may retell it in story form either orally or in writing. - -4. _Dramatization._ Ballads are so dramatic and simple in their -movement that they may be easily acted in the schoolroom with or -without improvised scenery and costumes. The teacher or pupil may -read aloud the ballad, while some of the boys and girls act it out -in dumb show; or, better yet, the actors may recite the lines that -belong to their parts, and the teacher may read aloud the descriptive -parts only. Whenever a refrain occurs, as in “The Stormy Winds Do -Blow,” the whole class may join in reciting it. - -5. _Writing from memory._ The teacher may assign a ballad to the -class to learn by heart; and then she may have the class write it out -from memory following closely the spelling, punctuation, and dialect -of the text. - -6. _Original ballad-writing._ Young people are natural ballad-makers. -At the end of the year, after memorizing and reciting ballads and -listening to them read aloud, the pupils will be so saturated with -ballad-spirit and meter, that ballad-writing will be a second nature. -The teacher may then tell, very briefly but interestingly, the -plot of a ballad, and let the pupils put it into original verses, -giving them a week or two in which to do so. After this exercise the -teacher may assign a local legend or story for practice in original -ballad-writing. - -The Programme that is given here is merely suggestive. All the -ballads in the book are good to read aloud, and most of them may be -dramatized or memorized. The course presented below shows a teacher -how she may, by progressive steps, develop her pupils’ taste for -ballad-literature, and prepare them to appreciate more mature forms -of narrative poetry, such as metrical romances and epics. - - -COURSE FOR FORTY WEEKS--ONE PERIOD A WEEK - - _1st Week. Reading aloud:_ The Laidley Worm O’ Spindleston-Heughs, - p. 148. - - _2d Week. Reading aloud:_ Little Billee, p. 159; Brian O’Linn, p. - 160; Dicky of Ballyman, p. 162; The Cinder King, p. 167. - - _3d Week. Dramatization:_ The Stormy Winds Do Blow, p. 2; The Noble - Riddle, p. 208; “Earl March looked on his dying child,” p. 203. - - _4th Week. Reading aloud:_ The Lady of Shalott, p. 124; The Singing - Leaves, p. 131. - - _5th Week. Dramatization:_ Kemp Owyne, p. 122; The Erl-King, p. 86. - - _6th Week. Reading aloud:_ Robin Hood and Little John, p. 291; - Robin Hood and Clorinda, p. 297. - - _7th Week. Dramatization:_ Ballad of the Oysterman, p. 164; Earl - Haldan’s Daughter, p. 58; The Greeting of Kynast, p. 74; A Tragic - Story, p. 158. - - _8th Week. Reading aloud (Halloween Week):_ The Spell, p. 254; Sir - Roland, p. 265; The Cruel Sister, p. 196; The Skeleton in Armour, - p. 270. - - _9th Week. Dramatization:_ Glenara, p. 212; The Dæmon Lover, p. 7. - - _10th Week. Reading aloud:_ King Alfred and the Shepherd, p. 176. - - _11th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:_ Young Beichan and - Susie Pye, p. 237. - - _12th Week. Reading aloud:_ The Fairy Thorn, p. 87; The Kelpie of - Corrievreckan, p. 97. - - _13th Week. Memorizing and reciting:_ True Valour, p. 355; The - Touchstone, p. 347; Barclay of Ury, p. 341; Pilgrimage, p. 351. - - _14th Week. Reading aloud:_ The Heart of the Bruce, p. 333. - - _15th Week. Memorizing and reciting (for Christmas):_ The Royal - Court, p. 353; Peace, p. 356; The Three Kings, p. 357. - - _16th Week. Reading aloud:_ Lady Clare, p. 59; Sir Galahad, p. 348. - - - _17th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:_ The Earl of Mar’s - Daughter, p. 115. - - _18th Week. Reading aloud:_ Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, p. 32. - - _19th Week. Dramatization:_ The Gay Goss-Hawk, p. 218; Thomas the - Rhymer, p. 93. - - _20th Week. Reading aloud:_ Young Tamlane, p. 255. - - _21st Week. Memorizing and reciting:_ Lord Lovel, p. 204; The - Beggar-Maid, p. 214; The Sands of Dee, p. 190; Lochinvar, p. 215. - - _22d Week. Reading aloud:_ Fair Anny of Roch-royal, p. 191; Bonny - Baby Livingston, p. 224. - - _23d Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:_ Blancheflour and - Jellyflorice, p. 209. - - _24th Week. Reading aloud:_ The Child of Elle, p. 244. - - _25th Week. Writing from memory:_ The Birth o’ Robin Hood, p. 290; - The Wee Wee Man, p. 114. - - _26th Week. Reading aloud:_ More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase, p. - 21. - - _27th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:_ Cochrane’s Bonny - Grizzy, p. 70; The Frolicksome Duke, p. 169. - - _28th Week. Reading aloud:_ May of the Moril Glen, p. 138. - - _29th Week. Writing from memory:_ The Wife of Usher’s Well, p. 263. - - _30th Week. Reading aloud:_ Sir Patrick Spens, p. 3; Hynd Horn, p. - 231. - - _31st Week. Writing from memory:_ Proud Lady Margaret, p. 62. - - _32d Week. Reading aloud:_ Song of the Outlaw Murray, p. 301. - - _33d Week. Original ballad-writing:_ Barbara Allen’s Cruelty, p. - 201; Alice Brand, p. 81; The Famous Flower of Serving-Men, p. 65. - - _34th Week. Reading aloud:_ The Eve of St. John, p. 279. - - _35th Week. Memorizing and reciting:_ The Fairy Tempter, p. 80; The - Luck of Edenhall, p. 135; La Belle Dame sans Merci, p. 91. - - _36th Week. Reading aloud:_ The Mermaid, p. 10. - - _37th Week. Original ballad-writing:_ King James the First and the - Tinkler, p. 173; Valentine and Ursine, p. 314; Belted Will, p. 47. - - _38th Week. Reading aloud:_ Kilmeny, p. 101. - - _39th Week. Original ballad-writing:_ The teacher may assign - a subject for this--a local legend or story of a patriotic or - historical event. - - _40th Week. Entertainment for Parents and Friends of Pupils:_ The - ballad-course may close with an afternoon or evening entertainment. - This may be made delightful. All the pupils should take part in the - exercises. - -Many of the old ballads are set to charming ancient tunes, and may be -sung by the whole school. Banjo or guitar accompaniment is specially -appropriate to ballad airs. Musical scores for some of the ballads in -this book--“The Cruel Sister” (“The Twa Sisters”), “Hynd Horn,” “Sir -Patrick Spens,” “Young Beichan,” “Proud Lady Margaret,” “The Famous -Flower of Serving-Men,” and “Lord Lovel”--may be found in Professor -Child’s _English and Scottish Popular Ballads_, large edition, part -10. If the music of old ballads is not obtainable, then popular, -well-known ballads, such as “Annie Laurie,” “Ben Bolt,” and “Loch -Lomond,” may be sung in their stead. - -The following outline for an entertainment may be varied to suit the -abilities and interests of the boys and girls who are to take part: - - -PROGRAMME FOR AN ENTERTAINMENT - - One or more ballads sung by the pupils. - Recitation. - Dramatization. - Ballad-reading. - A ballad solo. - Recitation. - Reading of the best original ballad composed by a pupil. - Dramatization. - Recitation. - Close: the audience and pupils may sing one or more popular, - well-known American ballads, such as may be found in any good - song-collection. - -In making up her Programme, the teacher should avoid selecting very -long ballads for memorization and recitation. It is best to let -the pupils who are to recite, choose the ballads they like best. -She should be careful to balance her Programme with verses of all -kinds--grave and gay, sad and weird, romantic and historical. She -should so artistically compose her Programme that it will play on the -emotions of her audience, moving it from laughter to tears, from awe -to the heroic. That is what ballads are for, to touch the heart, as -well as the head. - - -FOR LIBRARIANS AND SOCIAL WORKERS - -This entire course, as outlined for forty weeks, may be followed -by Librarians and Social Workers. They may, however, shorten the -Programme or alter it to suit the occasion. - - - - -GLOSSARY AND INDEXES - - - - -GLOSSARY - - -=A’=, all - -=Aboon=, above - -=Abune=, above - -=Acton=, stuffed leather jacket worn under coat-of-mail - -=Ae=, one, single, sole, mere - -=Aff=, off, oft - -=Aften=, often - -=Aiblins=, perhaps - -=Aik=, oak - -=Ain=, own - -=Airn=, iron - -=Alake=, alas! - -=Alane=, alone - -=Amang=, among - -=An=, and - -=Ance=, once - -=Ane=, one - -=Ankers=, anchors - -=Anse=, once - -=Ask=, newt, lizard - -=Atabal=, Moorish kettledrum - -=Attour=, above - -=Auld=, old - -=Awa’= _or_ =awa=, away - -=Awn=, own - -=Ayme=, aim - - -=Bairn= _or_ =bairnie=, child - -=Baith=, both - -=Bale=, fire, faggot - -=Ban=, band - -=Bane=, bone - -=Bartizan=, a small overhanging turret jutting out from the top of - a tower - -=Bash=, beat, smash in - -=Beacon=, a fire lighted on a height as a danger signal to call - together warriors to repel the enemy - -=Bedeen=, immediately, forthwith; often used as an expletive, or as - a rhyme-word at the end of a line - -=Belay=, lie in the way for - -=Beltan= _or_ =Beltane=, a Celtic pagan festival celebrated on May - Day or May 3d, by lighting bonfires on hilltops - -=Bent=, coarse grass, open field, sandy knoll covered with coarse - grass, the hollow of a hill - -=Berserk=, ancient Norse warrior who raged with fury in battle - -=Bigged=, built - -=Bigly=, pleasant to live in, spacious - -=Billie=, comrade, brother - -=Birk=, birch - -=Birkie=, lively - -=Birling=, drinking - -=Bla=, blow - -=Black Rood Stone=, The Black Rood of Melrose, a crucifix of - supposedly great sanctity - -=Blee=, colour, complexion - -=Blew=, blue - -=Blin=, cease, stop - -=Blude=, blood - -=Borrow=, set free, deliver, ransom - -=Boud=, behoved, was obliged - -=Bouir=, bower - -=Boun’=, bound, bound home - -=Bour=, bower - -=Bout=, bolt - -=Bower= _or_ =bowir=, lady’s chamber, a house, a rustic cottage - -=Bra’=, fine, handsome, brave - -=Brae=, down, a slope of a hill - -=Braid=, broad. “A braid letter”; a letter on a broad sheet, or a - long letter - -=Brak=, broke - -=Brake=, thicket, a place overgrown with ferns, shrubs, and brambles - -=Brash=, sickness - -=Brast=, burst - -=Brattle=, race, hurry - -=Braw=, comely, handsome, well-dressed - -=Bree=, brows, eyebrows - -=Brode=, breed - -=Broom=, the Genista, a shrub with bright golden flowers - -=Bughts=, pens - -=Burd alone=, by himself, solitary - -=Burn=, brook - -=Busked=, dressed, adorned - -=But and=, and also - -=Bygane=, gone by - -=Byre=, cow-house - - -=Cade lamb=, lamb brought up by hand, pet lamb - -=Callant=, lad - -=Cam’= _or_ =cam=, came - -=Capapie=, cap-à-pié, from head to foot. Armed cap-à-pié, armed - from head to foot - -=Carl= _or_ =carle=, churl - -=Carline=, old woman, peasant woman - -=Carlish=, churlish, uncivilized - -=Carp=, tell tales, sing or chant ballads - -=Castle-yate=, castle-gate - -=Caul= _or_ =cauld=, cold - -=Channerin’=, fretting - -=Chaps=, jaw, chops - -=Cheik=, cheek - -=Child= _or_ =childe=, a youth of gentle birth - -=Christentie=, Christendom - -=Claith=, cloth - -=Claymore=, large sword - -=Cleedin=, clothing - -=Clour=, bump on the head from a heavy blow - -=Clouted=, heavy and patched - -=Clouted cream=, clotted cream - -=Cloutie=, patched, ragged - -=Coft=, bought - -=Cold=, could - -=Contrair=, contrary, opposed - -=Corbie=, raven - -=Cosh=, quiet - -=Coud=, could - -=Couldna=, could not - -=Couthy=, friendly, kind, loving - -=Cow-me-doo=, Coo-my-dove, loving name for a dove - -=Craig=, neck, throat - -=Craw=, crow - -=Crawed=, crowed - -=Cum=, come, came - -=Cumbruk=, cambric - -=Cushat=, ring-dove, wood-pigeon - - -=Dae=, doe - -=Dantonit=, daunted - -=Daunton=, daunt, subdue - -=Daw=, dawn - -=Dean= _or_ =den=, dell, narrow glen - -=Death-thraw=, death-struggle - -=Dee=, do, die - -=Degree=, rank. “Served him in his own degree,” offered him respect - according to his rank - -=Deil=, Devil - -=Dinna=, do not - -=Dochter=, daughter - -=Doo=, dove - -=Dought=, should be able tot can - -=Doun=, down - -=Dour= _or_ =doure=, hard, severe, savage - -=Dove=, word of endearment for one pure and gentle - -=Downa=, cannot - -=Drap=, drop - -=Drapp’d=, dropped - -=Dree=, be able, stand. “As fast as he might dree,” as fast as he - could, undergo, suffer - -=Drumlie=, gloomy - -=Duddis=, poor clothes, tatters, duds - -=Dule=, grief - -=Dun=, dark coloured, of a dull brown colour - -=Dune=, done - - -=Eccho=, echo - -=Eche=, each - -=E’e= _or_ =ee=, eye - -=Effeir=, pomp, circumstance, bearing, garb, panoply - -=Eident=, unrestingly - -=Eildon=, a high hill with three-pointed summit, overlooking - Melrose town. Eildon Tree, the spot where Thomas the Rhymer is - supposed to have uttered his prophecies - -=Eiry=, eery, weird, dreary, gloomy, fear-inspiring - -=Eldern=, old - -=Elritch=, elvish - -=Elyed=, vanished - -=Eneuch=, enough - -=Enoo=, enough - -=Ere=, ever - -=Erle=, earl - -=Erlish=, elvish - -=Erst=, first, formerly - -=Even cloth=, smooth cloth, with nap well shorn - -=Eve of St. John=, Midsummer Day, June 24 - -=Eyne=, eyes - - -=Fa’= _or_ =fa=, fall, befall - -=Faem= _or_ =faeme=, foam - -=Fairing=, gift, present given at a fair - -=Fallow deer=, small European deer, of a fallow, or pale yellow - colour - -=Fand=, found - -=Fa’se=, false - -=Fashes=, troubles - -=Faulds=, folds - -=Faured=, favoured - -=Fause=, false - -=Feckless=, weak, feeble, silly - -=Fee=, wealth - -=Feircly=, fiercely - -=Fell=, sharply, severely, keen, eager - -=Fere=, mate, consort, companion - -=Ferlie=, marvel, wonder - -=Fidge=, fidget - -=Flang=, flung about, skipped - -=Flatter=, float - -=Flee=, flay - -=Flude=, flood - -=Forbode=, “Over God’s forbode”; God forbid! - -=Forfaulted=, forfeited - -=Forgather=, meet - -=Forhooyed=, forsook - -=Fornenst=, opposite to - -=Fou=, full - -=Frae=, from - -=Freit=, a good or bad omen - -=Frith=, wood, enclosed land - -=Fu’= _or_ =fu=, very, full, very much, fully - - -=Gad=, bar - -=Gae=, go - -=Galliard=, an old-time brisk dance - -=Gane=, suffice, gone - -=Gang=, go - -=Gar=, make, cause, do - -=Garr’d=, made, caused - -=Gear=, possessions, property, cattle - -=Geck=, mock - -=Gerfalcon=, large falcon of the Northlands - -=Gi’d=, went - -=Gie=, give - -=Gien=, given - -=Gif=, if - -=Gillore=, gallore, in plenty - -=Gimp=, jimp, slender - -=Gin=, if, suppose, granted it be so, whether - -=Glaive=, sword - -=Gleg=, spry, quick - -=Gleid=, spark - -=Gloamin=, twilight - -=Good b’w’ ye=, good be with ye, good-bye, derived from the phrase - “God be with you,” or “with ye” - -=Gos-hawk= _or_ =goss-hawk=, large hawk - -=Goud=, gold - -=Gouden=, golden - -=Goun=, gown - -=Goups=, handfuls - -=Goved=, stared - -=Gowan=, daisy - -=Gowd=, gold - -=Gowdn=, golden - -=Graith=, make ready - -=Grange=, farmhouse with outer buildings - -=Gratte=, wept, cried - -=Greet=, weep - -=Grew hound=, greyhound, grey - -=Grewis=, greyhounds - -=Groat=, old English silver coin worth fourpence issued from - 1351-1662 - -=Gude=, good - -=Gudely=, goodly - -=Guid=, good - -=Guise=, manner, behaviour - -=Gurly=, grim, growling, surly - -=Gyant=, giant - - -=Ha’= _or_ =ha=, hall - -=Had=, hold - -=Hadna= _or_ =hadnae=, had not - -=Hae=, have - -=Haggis=, Scotch dish made of a sheep’s maw filled with minced - meat, onions, and other ingredients mixed and cooked with oatmeal - -=Hail=, whole - -=Half-fou=, two pecks, half a bushel - -=Haly=, holy - -=Hame=, home - -=Han=, hand - -=Hap=, chance, fortune - -=Happed=, covered, wrapped - -=Haud=, hold, keep - -=Hauld=, hold - -=Hay=, “Went forth to view the hay,” went to see how the hay was - coming on - -=Heely=, slowly, gently - -=Her lane=, by herself - -=Heugh=, steep hill, glen with overhanging sides - -=Hie=, haste, high - -=Hindberrye=, wild raspberry - -=Hing=, hang - -=Hingers=, hangers - -=Hinny= _or_ =hinnie=, honey - -=His lane=, by himself - -=Holland= _or_ =hollin=, coarse linen, unbleached or dyed brown - -=Holt=, piece of woodland, a woody hill - -=Holy Grail=, the holy cup, used by the Lord Christ at the Last - Supper, was called in medieval romances, “The Holy Grail” - -=Houf=, haunt - -=Hoysed=, hoisted - -=Hurden=, coarse linen or hempen fabric - -=Hye= _or_ =hie=, haste - -=Hynd=, =Hynde=, _or_ =Hind=, young, courteous, gracious, gentle - -=Hypp=, fruit of the dog-rose - - -=I’= _or_ =i=, in - -=Ilk= _or_ =ilka=, every, each - -=Intill=, into, in - -=Its lane=, by itself - - -=Jaw=, wave - -=Jawes=, surges - -=Jet=, strut - -=Jimp=, slender, slim - -=Jimply=, barely, scarcely, hardly, narrowly - -=Joup=, petticoat - - -=Kaim=, comb - -=Kaimin=, combing - -=Kane=, tribute - -=Kell=, a cap of network for a woman’s hair - -=Kemb=, comb - -=Kemed=, combed - -=Ken=, know - -=Kendna=, did not know - -=Kenned= _or_ =kend=, knew - -=Kep=, catch, stop - -=Keppit=, caught - -=Kirk=, church - -=Kittle=, difficult to manage, risky, ticklish - -=Knaw=, know - -=Kynast=, castle in Northern Germany - -=Kythe=, appear - - -=Laddie=, diminutive of lad - -=Laidley=, loathly, loathsome - -=Laird=, squire, lord of the manor, owner of lands - -=Laith=, loath - -=Lan=, land - -=Lane=, lone - -=Lanely=, lonely - -=Lang=, long - -=Lap=, sprang, leaped - -=Lappered=, clotted - -=Lat=, let - -=Laverock=, lark - -=Lax=, relief - -=Lease=, lease (of bucks), three bucks - -=Leme=, gleam - -=Lend=, grant, give - -=Lettn=, let - -=Leven=, lawn, glade, open ground in the forest - -=Leveret=, hare - -=Liffe=, life - -=Lift=, air, sky - -=Liften=, lifted - -=Lighters=, horse-blinders or blinkers - -=Liken=, make like - -=Lish=, lithe, supple, agile - -=Lither=, lazy, idle, worthless, wicked - -=Littand=, staining, defiling - -=Live-lang=, live-long - -=Lo’ed=, loved - -=Lood=, loved - -=Loof=, palm of the hand - -=Loon=, fellow, rogue - -=Loot=, let, allowed - -=Lout=, bend, bow, lean - -=Lowed=, glowed - -=Lown=, calm, serene, silent, quiet - -=Lug=, ear - -=Luve=, love - -=Lyart=, grey, hoary - -=Lydder=, lazy, idle, loathsome - -=Lyon’s moods=, this possibly means like the mood or pluck of - lions; authorities differ as to readings - -=Lyth=, member, joint - - -=Mae=, more - -=Maik= _or_ =maike=, mate - -=Mair=, more - -=Make=, mate, consort - -=March= _or_ =Marches=, border-frontier, the boundary between - England and Scotland. Warden of the March, governor of the Scotch - Border - -=Marrow=, mate, wife, husband - -=Martinmas=, mass or feast of St. Martin, November 11 - -=Maun=, must - -=Maunna=, must not - -=Mavis=, thrush - -=May=, maid - -=Meet=, scant, close - -=Meikle=, much, great - -=Merl= _or_ =merle=, blackbird - -=Merk= _or_ =mark=, about 13s. 4d. in the English money of the time - -=Mess=, mass - -=Mickle=, much, great - -=Middle=, waist - -=Midsummer Day=, June 24 - -=Minny= _or_ =minnie=, mother - -=Mirk=, dark - -=Mither=, mother - -=Monmouth Cap=, flat round cap formerly worn by English soldiers - and sailors. Shakespeare mentions it in _Henry V_ - -=Mony= _or_ =monie=, many, money - -=Mote=, may - -=Mountain-mere=, mountain-lake - -=Muir=, moor - - -=Na=, no, not - -=Nae=, no - -=Naething=, nothing - -=Nane=, none - -=Nappy=, heady, strong - -=Neer=, never, ne’er - -=Neest=, nearest, next - -=Neir=, never, ne’er - -=Neist=, next - -=Nicht=, night - -=Nowt=, neat cattle - -=Nurice= _or_ =nourice=, nurse - - -=O’= _or_ =o=, of - -=O’erword=, refrain, call, cry - -=Ony=, any - -=Ower=, over - -=Owre=, before, over - - -=Palfray=, small saddle-horse for ladies, palfrey - -=Pall=, cloak, mantle - -=Palmer=, Pilgrim returned from Holy Land bearing, as a badge, a - branch of palm - -=Paughty=, haughty - -=Philabeg=, highland kilt - -=Pibroch=, a Highland dirge or martial air, a kind of wild, - irregular music, performed on the bagpipe - -=Pickle=, choice - -=Pin=, an implement for raising the latch of a door, _see_ tirled - -=Pine=, suffering, pain - -=Plait=, fold, plate - -=Plate-jack=, coat-armour - -=Pock-puddings=, bag-puddings - -=Prie=, attain - -=Prieven=, attained - -=Prin=, pin - -=Pu’= _or_ =pu=, pull - -=Pu’d=, pulled - -=Putten=, put - - -=Quarry=, slaughtered game - -=Quean=, saucy girl or young woman - - -=Rad=, afraid - -=Rade=, rode - -=Rae=, roe - -=Raike=, range - -=Rail=, woman’s jacket - -=Ravin=, violent - -=Raw=, row - -=Ray=, array - -=Reavers=, robbers - -=Reaving=, thieving, robbing - -=Rede=, counsel - -=Reek=, smoke - -=Reifed=, stolen, plundered - -=Reifery=, robbery, plundering - -=Rife=, abounding - -=Rins=, runs - -=Rock=, distaff used in spinning - -=Rode= _or_ =Rood=, Holy Cross, crucifix, _see also_ Black Rood of - Melrose - -=Roul=, roll - -=Roun’= _or_ =roun=, round, around about - -=Rowan Tree=, mountain ash, which is also called the Fairies’ tree - because Witches and Evil Spirits are said to fear it - -=Rowed=, rolled, wound - -=Rowt=, roar - - -=St. John’s Eve=, Midsummer Day, June 24 - -=Sae=, so - -=Saft=, soft, softly - -=Saikless=, innocent - -=Sained=, crossed, blessed, hallowed - -=Sair=, sore, painful, very much - -=Sail=, shall - -=Satten=, satin - -=Saul=, soul - -=Saut=, salt - -=Sax=, six - -=Scallop-shell=, a small fluted shell. In the middle ages, Pilgrims - used to wear scallop-shells as badges of their pilgrimage - -=Scaur=, steep bank overhanging a river, a cliff - -=Scorke=, struck - -=Scot-free=, the word “scot” means payment, fine, reckoning, tax. - Scot-free means free from payment; also, without harm, unhurt, safe - -=Screen=, plaid, cloak, large scarf thrown over the head - -=Scrip=, small bag, Pilgrim’s pouch - -=Sea-maw=, gull, sea mew - -=Sen=, sent - -=Sets with=, suits - -=Seymar=, loose robe - -=Share of Truth=, ploughshare of Truth--used as figurative language - -=Shathmont=, measure from top of extended thumb to the extremity of - palm--six inches - -=Shaw=, thicket, copse - -=Sheave=, slice. - -=Sheen=, bright, shining - -=Sheugh=, trench, ditch, furrow - -=Shoon=, shoes - -=Shot-window=, projecting window in the stair case of old Scotch - wooden house - -=Sic=, such - -=Sichin=, sighing - -=Sicken=, such - -=Siller=, silver - -=Simmer=, summer - -=Sin=, since - -=Sin=, “Thankless sins the gifts he gets,” probably means to hold - them in slight esteem. (Footnote in Scott) - -=Skaith=, harm, an injury - -=Skald=, ancient Scandinavian poet or bard - -=Skaw=, promontory or low cape - -=Skeely=, skilful - -=Skelping=, moving rapidly - -=Skoal=, hail! - -=Sleeks=, makes smooth - -=Slogan=, war-cry of the Scottish Highlanders - -=Sma= _or_ =sma’=, small - -=Snaw=, snow - -=Snell=, sharp, keen, shrill, bitter - -=Snickersnee=, sailor’s sheath-knife or bowie knife - -=Snood=, hair-band - -=Snoove=, go smoothly and constantly - -=Solan=, gannet, solan-goose - -=Solempne=, solemn - -=Sommer=, summer - -=Sonsy= _or_ =Sonsie=, plump - -=Sorning=, spunging, obtruding - -=Soudron= _or_ =Southron=, southern, the English - -=Spak=, spake, spoke - -=Spankie=, sprightly, friskly, smart - -=Speer=, ask - -=Sperthe=, battle-axe - -=Spier=, spear - -=Sta=, stole - -=Stane=, stone - -=Stead=, dwelling-place - -=Steek=, stitch - -=Step minnie=, stepmother - -=Stern-light=, starlight - -=Stour= _or_ =stoure=, dust, skirmish, struggle, battle - -=Stown=, stolen - -=Strack=, struck - -=Stran=, strand - -=Strang=, strong - -=Strath=, valley thro’ which a river runs - -=Stron=, the end of a ridge of hills - -=Stude=, stood - -=Sucket=, sugar-plum - -=Suld=, should - -=Sune=, soon - -=Swa’d=, swelled - -=Syke=, marsh - -=Syle=, soil - -=Syne=, then, afterward, since - - -=Tae=, toe - -=Ta’en= _or_ =taen=, taken - -=Taffetie=, taffeta - -=Taiglit=, tarried - -=Taiken=, token - -=Tak=, take - -=Tald=, told - -=Tale=, number, count - -=Tane=, taken - -=Tauld=, told - -=Teind=, tithe - -=Tent=, take care of, watch, guard - -=Tent=, Spanish wine of a deep red colour - -=Termagant=, a pagan deity, whom the Crusaders said was worshipped - by the Mohammedans - -=Tett=, lock of hair or of a mane - -=Thae=, thesef those - -=Then=, than - -=Thie=, thigh - -=Thimber=, heavy, massive - -=Thir=, those, these - -=Thysell=, thyself - -=Till=, to - -=Tinkler=, tinker - -=Tint=, lost - -=Tirled= _or_ =tirld=, twist or rattle. “Tirld at the pin,” _see_ - Pin - -=Tod=, fox - -=Toom=, empty - -=Touchstone=, a kind of compact stone used to test gold and silver - -=Toun=, hamlet, farmhouse - -=Trailed=, dragged - -=Tree=, wood, made of wood - -=Trow=, trust, believe, think - -=Tryst=, appointed place of meeting, also appointment to meet - -=Turtle-doo=, turtle-dove - -=Twa=, two - -=Twae=, two - -=Twin’d=, deprived, parted - - -=Ugsome=, exciting disgust, abhorrent - -=Ummeled=, unmixed, pure - -=Upgive=, avow, own up - -=Upo=, on, to, with, at, in - - -=Vair=, squirrel-fur - -=Vaunt-brace=, armour for the body - -=Verra=, very - - -=Wa’= _or_ =wa=, wall - -=Wad=, would - -=Wae=, woe - -=Waik=, glade - -=Wained=, carried, removed - -=Waith=, wandering, roaming, straying - -=Wall-wightmen=, picked, strong men - -=Waly=, exclamation of admiration - -=Wan=, won - -=Wap=, wrap, stuff - -=War’d=, expended, used - -=Warden=, keeper, guardian. Warden of the March, governor of the - Scotch Border - -=Warden Pies=, pies made of warden pears--large pears - -=Warld=, world - -=Warlock=, sorcerer, wizard - -=Warse=, worse - -=Warst=, worst - -=Wasna=, was not - -=Wassail-bout=, drinking revel, carouse - -=Wat=, wet - -=Wauking=, watch, walk - -=Weel=, well - -=Weet=, wet - -=Weir=, to collect and drive cattle - -=Weird=, Destiny, Fate, Fortune - -=Well-kent=, well-known - -=Wene=, recess - -=Wer-wolf=, person transformed into a wolf - -=Westlin=, Western - -=Wha=, who - -=Whare=, where - -=Whaten=, what sort, what kind - -=Whidderan=, whizzing - -=Whin-bushes=, furze, gorse - -=Wi’= _or_ =wi=, with - -=Win=, wind - -=Win in=, get in - -=Winna=, will not - -=Wis=, know - -=Withouten= _or_ =withoutten=, without - -=Wodensday=, Wednesday, derived from the name of the Anglo-Saxon - god, Woden; which name meant “the furious” or “the mighty warrior” - -=Wold=, would - -=Wold=, open tract of country - -=Woned=, dwelt - -=Wot=, know - -=Wud=, would - - -=Y= _or_ =I=, a prefix to many Middle English words, often used - (specially with past-participles) to intensify their meanings - -=Yallow=, yellow - -=Yate=, gate - -=Y-built=, _see above_ Y or I - -=Yer sel=, yourself - -=Yett=, gate - -=Yont=, beyond - -=Yorlin=, yellow-hammer - -=Yoursell=, yourself - -=Yowlit=, yowled, howled, yelped - -=Y-wis=, =i-wis=, certainly, surely, truly, to wit, indeed - -=Y-wrought=, _see above_ Y or I - - - - -SUBJECT INDEX - - -AFFECTION: - Child of Elle, 244; - Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, 70; - Fairy Tempter, 80. - -ALFRED THE GREAT: - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176. - - -BALLADS, EDUCATIONAL USE: - Foreword, vii; - Suggestions for Teachers, 363. - -BALLADS, LITERARY COMMENT ON: - Addison, 363; - Spenser, xi; - Stedman, 363; - Sydney, xii. - -BALLADS, PROGRAMME FOR TEACHING: - Suggestions for Teachers, 363. - _See also_ DRAMATICS. - -BELTAN; - _see_ MAY DAY. - -BIRD FRIENDS: - Earl of Mar’s Daughter, 115; - Gay Goss-Hawk, 218; - Singing Leaves, 131. - -BORDER BALLADS: - Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32; - Belted Will, 47; - Chevy-Chase, 21; - Galloway Raid, 20. - -BROTHERS AND SISTERS: - Fairy Tempter, 80; - Laidley Worm, 148; - Proud Lady Margaret, 62; - Valentine and Ursine, 314. - -BRUCE, ROBERT, KING OF SCOTLAND: - Heart of the Bruce, 333. - - -CAKES, BURNING OF: - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176. - -CHEVY-CHASE: - Chevy-Chase, 21. - -CHIVALRY: - Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, 209; - Child of Elle, 244; - Sir Galahad, 348; - Valentine and Ursine, 314. - -CHRIST: - Barclay of Ury, 341; - Heart of the Bruce, 333; - Pilgrimage, 351; - Royal Court, 353; - Sir Galahad, 348. - -CHRIST-CHILD: - Three Kings, 357. - -CHRISTMAS: - Sir Galahad, 348; - Three Kings, 357. - -CLORINDA: - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297. - -CONSTANCY: - Bonny Baby Livingston, 224; - Dæmon Lover, 7; - “Earl March Looked on his Dying Child,” 203; - Fair Anny of Roch-royal, 191; - Gay Goss-Hawk, 218; - Hynd Horn, 231; - Lady Clare, 59; - Lord Lovel, 204; - Mermaid, 10; - Sweet William’s Ghost, 276; - Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237. - -COPHETUA: - Beggar-Maid, 214. - -CORRIEVRECKAN: - Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97. - -COURAGE AND HEROISM: - Alice Brand, 81; - Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32; - Chevy-Chase, 21; - Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, 70; - Famous Flower of Serving-Men, 65; - Heart of the Bruce, 333; - Kemp Owyne, 122; - Laidley Worm, 148; - Pilgrim, 332; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291; - Sir Patrick Spens, 3; - Song of the Outlaw Murray, 301. _See also_ MAIDS AND LASSIES, BRAVE - AND TRUE. - -CRUELTY; - _see_ RETRIBUTION. - - -DEE: - Sands of Dee, 190. - -DEMOCRATIC BALLADS: - Frolicksome Duke, 169; - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176; - King James the First and the Tinkler, 173. - -DRAMATICS, BALLADS SUITABLE FOR: - Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32; - Ballad of the Oysterman, 164; - Beggar-Maid, 214; - Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, 70; - Dæmon Lover, 7; - Earl Haldan’s Daughter, 58; - “Earl March Looked on his Dying Child,” 203; - Erl-King, 86; - Gay Goss-Hawk, 218; - Glenara, 212; - Greeting of Kynast, 74; - Kemp Owyne, 122; - King James the First and the Tinkler, 173; - Lady of Shalott, 124; - Laidley Worm, 148; - Noble Riddle, 208; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291; - Stormy Winds Do Blow, 2; - Thomas the Rhymer, 93; - Tragic Story, 158; - Young Tamlane, 255. _Many other ballads in this book may be - dramatized._ - -DWARFS: - Alice Brand, 81; - Belted Will, 47. - - -EDENHALL: - Luck of Edenhall, 135. - -EILDON TREE: - Eve of St. John, 279; - Thomas the Rhymer, 93. _See also_ GLOSSARY _under_ EILDON TREE, - p. 377. - -ELVES; - _see_ FAIRIES. - -ENCHANTMENT AND MYSTERY: - Alice Brand, 81; - Earl of Mar’s Daughter, 115; - Fairy Thorn, 87; - Kemp Owyne, 122; - La Belle Dame sans Merci, 91; - Lady of Shalott, 124; - Laidley Worm, 148; - Luck of Edenhall, 135; - May of the Moril Glen, 138; - Mermaid, 10. _See also_ FAIRIES AND FAIRYLAND. - -ENDURANCE: - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291. - -ERL-KING: - Erl-King, 86. - -ETTRICK: - Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32; - Song of the Outlaw Murray, 301. - -EVE OF ST. JOHN; - _see_ MIDSUMMER DAY AND ST. JOHN’S DAY. - - -FAIRIES AND FAIRYLAND: - Alice Brand, 81; - Erl-King, 86; - Fairy Tempter, 80; - Fairy Thorn, 87; - Kilmeny, 101; - La Belle Dame sans Merci, 91; - May of the Moril Glen, 138; - Thomas the Rhymer, 93; - Young Tamlane, 255. - -FAIR PLAY: - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291. - -FARM CUSTOMS: - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176. - -FATHERS: - Child of Elle, 244; - Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, 70; - Erl-King, 86. - -FOREST; - _see_ GREENWOOD. - -FRIENDSHIP: - Royal Court, 353. - - -GHOST-STORY BALLADS; - _see_ HALLOWEEN AND GHOST STORIES. - -GIANTS: - Valentine and Ursine, 314. - -GOSS-HAWKS: - Gay Goss-Hawk, 218. - -GREENWOOD: - Alice Brand, 81; - Birth o’ Robin Hood, 290; - Fairy Tempter, 80; - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291; - Royal Court, 353; - Song of the Outlaw Murray, 301; - Valentine and Ursine, 314. - - -HALLOWE’EN AND GHOST STORIES: - Dæmon Lover, 7; - Eve of St. John, 279; - Proud Lady Margaret, 62; - Sir Roland, 265; - Skeleton in Armour, 270; - Sweet William’s Ghost, 276; - Wife of Usher’s Well, 263; - Young Tamlane, 255. - -HAUGHTINESS; - _see_ PRIDE AND VANITY. - -HAWTHORN: - Fairy Thorn, 87. - -HEROISM; - _see_ COURAGE AND HEROISM. - -HOLY GRAIL: - Sir Galahad, 348. - -HUMOUR: - Ballad of the Oysterman, 164; - Brian o’Linn, 160; - Cinder King, 167; - Dicky of Ballyman, 162; - Frolicksome Duke, 169; - Greeting of Kynast, 74; - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176; - King James the First and the Tinkler, 173; - Little Billee, 159; - May of the Moril Glen, 138; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291; - Tragic Story, 158. - -HUNTING: - Chevy-Chase, 21; - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297. - - -JAMES THE FIRST, KING OF ENGLAND: - King James the First and the Tinkler, 173. - - -KELPIES: - Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97. - -KNIGHTS AND LADIES: - Alice Brand, 81; - Earl Haldan’s Daughter, 58; - Famous Flower of Serving-Men, 65; - Gay Goss-Hawk, 218; - Greeting of Kynast, 74; - Kemp Owyne, 122; - Lady Clare, 59; - Laidley Worm, 148; - Lochinvar, 215; - Lord Lovel, 204; - Proud Lady Margaret, 62. - -KUNIGUNDE: - Greeting of Kynast, 74. - -KYNAST: - Greeting of Kynast, 74. - - -LABOUR DAY; - _see_ DEMOCRATIC BALLADS. - -LAIDLEY WORMS: - Kemp Owyne, 122; - Laidley Worm, 148. - -LITTLE JOHN: - Robin Hood and Little John, 291. - - -MAGI: - Three Kings, 357. - -MAIDS AND LASSIES, BRAVE AND TRUE: - Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32; - Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, 209; - Bonny Baby Livingston, 224; - Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, 70; - Lady Clare, 59; - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297; - Sweet William’s Ghost, 276; - Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237; - Young Tamlane, 255. - -MARTINMAS (NOVEMBER 11): - Wife of Usher’s Well, 263. - -MAY DAY OR BELTAN (MAY 1): - Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97; - The Spell, 254. - -MERMAIDS: - Mermaid, 10; - Stormy Winds Do Blow, 2. - -MIDSUMMER DAY AND ST. JOHN’S DAY (JUNE 24): - Eve of St. John, 279; - The Spell, 254. - -MOORS: - Heart of the Bruce, 333; - Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237. - -MORAL COURAGE: - Barclay of Ury, 341; - Lady Clare, 59; - True Valour, 355. - -MOTHERS: - Lady Clare, 59; - Valentine and Ursine, 314; - Wife of Usher’s Well, 263. - -MOUNTAIN ASH; - _see_ ROWAN TREE. - -MYSTERY BALLADS; - _see_ ENCHANTMENT AND MYSTERY; - _also_ HALLOWEEN AND GHOST STORIES. - - -OUTLAWS: - Birth o’ Robin Hood, 290; - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291; - Song of the Outlaw Murray, 301. - - -PALMERS; - _see_ PILGRIMS AND PILGRIMAGE. - -PEACE: - Peace, 356; - Pilgrimage, 351; - Royal Court, 353. - -PILGRIMS AND PILGRIMAGE: - Heart of the Bruce, 333; - Pilgrim, 332; - Pilgrimage, 351; - Sir Galahad, 348; - True Valour, 355. - -PRIDE AND VANITY: - Earl Haldan’s Daughter, 58; - Greeting of Kynast, 74; - Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97; - Proud Lady Margaret, 62. - -PUNISHMENT; - _see_ RETRIBUTION. - -PURITY: - Kilmeny, 101; - Sir Galahad, 348. - - -QUAKERS: - Barclay of Ury, 341. - - -RAIDS AND REAVING; - _see_ BORDER BALLADS. - -RELIGIOUS BALLADS AND VERSES: - Barclay of Ury, 341; - Heart of the Bruce, 333; - Pilgrim, 332; - Pilgrimage, 351; - Royal Court, 353; - Sir Galahad, 348. - -RETRIBUTION: - Belted Will, 47; - Cruelty of Barbara Allen, 201; - Dæmon Lover, 7; - Earl Haldan’s Daughter, 58; - Eve of St. John, 279; - Greeting of Kynast, 74; - Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97; - Laidley Worm, 148; - Sir Roland, 265. - -ROBIN HOOD: - Birth o’ Robin Hood, 290; - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297; - Robin Hood and Little John, 291. - -ROMANCE AND LOVERS: - Alice Brand, 81; - Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32; - Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, 209; - Bonny Baby Livingston, 224; - Child of Elle, 244; - Cruel Sister, 196; - “Earl March Looked on his Dying Child,” 203; - Earl of Mar’s Daughter, 115; - Famous Flower of Serving-Men, 65; - Hynd Horn, 231; - Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97; - Lady Clare, 59; - Lochinvar, 215; - Lord Lovel, 204; - May of the Moril Glen, 138; - Noble Riddle, 208; - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297; - Singing Leaves, 131; - Skeleton in Armour, 270; - Sweet William’s Ghost, 276; - Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237; - Young Tamlane, 255. - -ROWAN TREE OR MOUNTAIN ASH: - Fairy Thorn, 87; - Laidley Worm, 148. - - -SAILORS: - Dæmon Lover, 7; - Little Billee, 159; - Sir Patrick Spens, 3; - Stormy Winds Do Blow, 2. - -ST. JOHN’S EVE; - _see_ MIDSUMMER DAY AND ST. JOHN’S DAY. - -SALEM: - Peace, 356. - -SEA BALLADS: - Dæmon Lover, 7; - Earl Haldan’s Daughter, 58; - Fair Anny of Roch-royal, 191; - Heart of the Bruce, 333; - Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97; - Kemp Owyne, 122; - Laidley Worm, 148; - Little Billee, 159; - Mermaid, 10; - Sands of Dee, 190; - Sir Patrick Spens, 3; - Stormy Winds Do Blow, 2. - -SHEPHERDS: - King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176. - -SHERWOOD FOREST: - Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297. - -SPINDLESTON-HEUGHS: - Laidley Worm, 148. - - -TAMLANE: - Young Tamlane, 255. - -TINKERS: - Frolicksome Duke, 169; - King James the First and the Tinkler, 173. - -THREE WISE MEN: - Three Kings, 357. - -TRUE THOMAS: - Thomas the Rhymer, 93. - - -VALENTINE DAY: - Valentine and Ursine, 314. _See also_ ROMANCE AND LOVERS. - -VALOUR; - _see_ COURAGE AND HEROISM. - -VANITY; - _see_ PRIDE AND VANITY. - -VIKINGS: - Skeleton in Armour, 270. - - -WITCHES: - Laidley Worm, 148. - -WOMANLINESS: - Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32; - Beggar-Maid, 214; - Child of Elle, 244; - Kilmeny, 101; - Singing Leaves, 131. - - - - -INDEX OF FIRST LINES - - -A fair girl was sitting in the greenwood shade, 80 - -A Man there came, whence none could tell, 347 - -Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, 91 - -And mony ane sings o’ grass, o’ grass, 290 - -And now, to be brief, let’s pass over the rest, 173 - -As I was walking all alane, 114 - -At eve last Midsummer, no sleep I sought, 254 - - -Bonny Kilmeny gaed up the glen, 101 - -Brian O’Linn was a gentleman born, 160 - - -Earl March looked on his dying child, 203 - -Ettrick Forest is a fair forest, 301 - - -Fair Margret was a young ladye, 62 - - -“Get up, our Anna dear, from the weary spinning-wheel,” 87 - -Give me my Scallop-shell of Quiet, 351 - -God prosper long our noble King, 21 - - -He mounted his steed of the water clear, 97 - -Her arms across her breast she laid, 214 - -Her mother died when she was young, 122 - - -“If thou canst answer me questions three,” 208 - -In elder time there was of yore, 176 - -In London was young Beichan born, 237 - -In Royal Courts my Soul hath slept, 353 - -In Scarlet Town, where I was bound, 201 - -It was a tall young Oysterman, 164 - -It was Earl Haldan’s daughter, 58 - -It was intill a pleasant time, 115 - -It was the time when lilies blow, 59 - -I will tell you of ane wondrous tale, 138 - - -Listen, now, both great and simple, 70 - -Lord Lovel he stood at his castle gate, 204 - - -Merry it is in the good greenwood, 81 - -My good blade carves the casques of men, 348 - - -Near the King’s Court was a young child born, 231 - -Now, as fame does report, a young Duke keeps a Court, 169 - - -O bonny Baby Livingston, 224 - -“O I forbid ye, maidens a’,” 255 - -“O Mary, go and call the cattle home,” 190 - -“O waly, waly, my gay goss-hawk,” 218 - -“O wha will shoe my fu fair foot,” 191 - -“O where have you been, my long, long love,” 7 - -Of Edenhall, the youthful Lord, 135 - -Oh! heard ye yon pibroch sound sad in the gale, 212 - -Oh! who rides by night thro’ the woodland so wild, 86 - -Oh! young Lochinvar is come out of the West, 215 - -On either side the river lie, 124 - -On Jura’s heath how sweetly swell, 10 - -On New Year’s Day, as I heard say, 162 - -On yonder hill a castle stands, 244 - -One Friday morn when we set sail, 2 - - -She said, “This narrow chamber is not for me the place,” 74 - -“Speak! speak! thou fearful guest!” 270 - -Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell, I humbly crave, 356 - - -The Baron of Smaylho’me rose with day, 279 - -The Baron of Thirlwall came from the wars, 47 - -The good Lord Douglas paced the deck, 333 - -The King is gone from Bambrough Castle, 148 - -The king sits in Dunfermline town, 3 - -The moonbeam glints on tower and hill, 32 - -The reavers of Eskdale were mounted for weir, 20 - -There came a ghost to Margret’s door, 276 - -There lived a sage in days of yore, 158 - -There lived a wife at Usher’s Well, 263 - -There was a maid, richly arrayd, 209 - -There were three sailors of Bristol city, 159 - -There were two sisters sat in a bour, 196 - -Three Kings came riding from far away, 357 - -True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank, 93 - - -Up the streets of Aberdeen, 341 - - -Whan he cam to his ain luve’s bouir, 265 - -What Danger is the Pilgrim in, 332 - -“What fairings will ye that I bring,” 131 - -When Flora ’gins to deck the fields, 314 - -When Robin Hood came into merry Sherwood, 297 - -When Robin Hood was about twenty years old, 291 - -Who is it that sits in the kitchen and weeps, 167 - -Who would true Valour see, 355 - - -You beautious ladies, great and small, 65 - - - - -INDEX OF TITLES AND AUTHORS - -_With references from titles of other ballad-versions_ - - -Alice Brand, 81 - -Allingham, Touchstone, 347 - -Annie Livingston, _see_ Bonny Baby Livingston, 224 - -Annie of Loch Royan, _see_ Fair Anny of Roch-royal, 191 - -Aytoun, Heart of the Bruce, 333 - - -Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32 - -Ballad of the Oysterman, 164 - -Barbara Allen’s Cruelty, 201 - -Barclay of Ury, 341 - -Beggar-Maid, 214 - -Beichan and Susie Pye, _see_ Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237 - -Belle Dame sans Merci, _see_ La Belle Dame sans Merci, 91 - -Belted Will, 47 - -Binnorie, _see_ The Cruel Sister, 196 - -Birth o’ Robin Hood, 290 - -Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, 209 - -Bonnie Milldams o’ Binnorie, _see_ The Cruel Sister, 196 - -Bonny Baby Livingston, 224 - -Bonny Barbara Allan, _see_ Cruelty of Barbara Allen, 201 - -Bonny Kilmeny, _see_ Kilmeny, 101 - -Brian O’Linn, 160 - -Bunyan, The Pilgrim, 332 - -Bunyan, True Valour, 355 - - -Campbell, Glenara, 212 - -Campbell, Song,--Earl March Looked on his Dying Child, 203 - -Chevy-Chase, _see_ More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase, 21 - -Child of Elle, 244 - -Cinder King, 167 - -Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, 70 - -Cruel Sister, 196 - -Cruelty of Barbara Allen, _see_ Barbara Allen’s Cruelty, 201 - - -Dæmon Lover, 7 - -Dicky of Ballyman, 162 - - -Earl Haldan’s Daughter, 58 - -Earl March Looked on his Dying Child, 203 - -Earl of Mar’s Daughter, 115 - -Ercildoune, Thomas of, _see_ Thomas the Rhymer, 93 - -Erl-King, 86 - -Ettrick Shepherd, Kilmeny, 101 - -Ettrick Shepherd, May of the Moril Glen, 138 - -Eve of St. John, 279 - - -Fair Anny of Roch-royal (_same as_ Annie of Loch Royan), 191 - -Fairy Tempter, 80 - -Fairy Thorn, 87 - -Famous Flower of Serving-Men, 65 - -Ferguson, Fairy Thorn, 87 - -Frolicksome Duke; or, The Tinker’s Good Fortune, 169 - - -Galloway Raid, 20 - -Gay, The Spell, 254 - -Gay Goss-Hawk, 218 - -Glenara, 212 - -Goethe, Erl-King, 86 - -Greeting of Kynast, 74 - -Grizzy Cochrane’s Ride, _see_ Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, 70 - - -Heart of the Bruce, 333 - -Herbert, Peace, 356 - -Hind Horn, _see_ Hynd Horn, 231 - -Hogg, Kilmeny, 101 - -Hogg, May of the Moril Glen, 138 - -Holmes, Ballad of the Oysterman, 164 - -Hunting of the Cheviot, _see_ More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase, 21 - -Hynd Horn, 231 - - -Jolly Goss-Hawk, _see_ Gay Goss-Hawk, 218 - - -Keats, La Belle Dame sans Merci, 91 - -Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97 - -Kemp Owyne (_same as_ Kempion), 122 - -Kilmeny, 101 - -King Alfred and the Shepherd, 176 - -King James the First and the Tinkler, 173 - -Kingsley, Earl Haldan’s Daughter, 58 - -Kingsley, Sands of Dee, 190 - -Kynast, _see_ Greeting of Kynast, 74 - - -La Belle Dame sans Merci, 91 - -Lady Clare, 59 - -Lady of Shalott, 124 - -Lady Turned Serving-Man, _see_ Famous Flower of Serving-Men, 65 - -Laidley Worm o’ Spindleston-Heughs, 148 - -Lass of Lochroyan, _see_ Fair Anny of Roch-royal, 191 - -Leyden, Mermaid, 10 - -Little Billee, 159 - -Lochinvar, 215 - -Longfellow (from Uhland), Luck of Edenhall, 135 - -Longfellow, Skeleton in Armour, 270 - -Longfellow, Three Kings, 357 - -Lord Beichan, _see_ Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237 - -Lord Lovel, 204 - -Lover, Fairy Tempter, 80 - -Lowell, Singing Leaves, 131 - -Luck of Edenhall, 135 - - -Mackay, Kelpie of Corrievreckan, 97 - -May of the Moril Glen, 138 - -Meikle-Mouthed Meg, _see_ Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, 32 - -Mermaid, 10 - -More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase, 21 - - -Noble Riddle, 208 - - -Outlaw Murray, _see_ Song of the Outlaw Murray, 301 - -Oysterman, Ballad of, 164 - - -Peace, 356 - -Pilgrim, 332 - -Pilgrimage, 351 - -Proud Lady Margaret, 62 - - -Raleigh, Pilgrimage, 351 - -Robin Hood and Clorinda, 297 - -Robin Hood and Little John, 291 - -Royal Court, 353 - -Rückert, Greeting of Kynast, 74 - - -Sands of Dee, 190 - -Scott, Alice Brand, 81 - -Scott, Eve of St. John, 279 - -Scott, Lochinvar, 215 - -Sheldon, Belted Will, 47 - -Singing Leaves, 131 - -Sir Galahad, 348 - -Sir Patrick Spens, 3 - -Sir Roland, 265 - -Skeleton in Armour, 270 - -Skipper Patrick, _see_ Sir Patrick Spens, 3 - -Song: Earl March Looked on his Dying Child, 203 - -Song of the Outlaw Murray, 301 - -Spell, 254 - -Stormy Winds do Blow, 2 - -Sweet William’s Ghost, 276 - - -Tamlane (or Tamlin), _see_ Young Tamlane, 255 - -Tennyson, Beggar-Maid, 214 - -Tennyson, Lady Clare, 59 - -Tennyson, Lady of Shalott, 124 - -Tennyson, Sir Galahad, 348 - -Thackeray, Little Billee, 159 - -Thackeray, Tragic Story, 158 - -Thomas the Rhymer (or Thomas of Ercildoune), 93 - -Three Kings, 357 - -Tinker’s Good Fortune, _see_ The Frolicksome Duke, 169 - -Touchstone, 347 - -Tragic Story, 158 - -True Thomas, _see_ Thomas the Rhymer, 93 - -True Valour, 355 - -Twa Sisters, _see_ The Cruel Sister, 196 - - -Uhland, Luck of Edenhall, 135 - - -Valentine and Ursine, 314 - - -Wee Wee Man, 114 - -Whittier, Barclay of Ury, 341 - -Wife of Usher’s Well, 263 - - -Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237 - -Young Bondwell, _see_ Young Beichan and Susie Pye, 237 - -Young Hynd Horn, _see_ Hynd Horn, 231. - -Young Lochinvar, _see_ Lochinvar, 215 - -Young Tamlane, 255 - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] See Foreword, page vii. - -[2] See Acknowledgments, p. xv, and Foreword, p. vii. - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. - - Bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. - - Obvious printer and scanning errors have been silently corrected. - - Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation such as - “green-wood/greenwood” have been maintained. - - Page 62: “coud” changed to “could”. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY-TELLING BALLADS*** - 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- margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - page-break-before: avoid; - line-height: 1; } - h3.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h4.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 100%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - hr.pgx { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Story-Telling Ballads, by Frances Jenkins -Olcott</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: Story-Telling Ballads</p> -<p> Selected and Arranged for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and for the Boys' and Girls' Own Reading</p> -<p>Author: Frances Jenkins Olcott</p> -<p>Release Date: November 23, 2020 [eBook #63858]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY-TELLING BALLADS***</p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by MFR, Susan Carr,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (https://www.pgdp.net)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (https://archive.org)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/storytellingball00olc - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp49" id="cover" style="max-width: 62.5em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<h1 class="p10 pb10">STORY-TELLING BALLADS</h1> - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> - -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="ifrontis" style="max-width: 46.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_frontis.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">THE LIFT GREW DARK, AND THE WIND BLEW LOUD,<br /> -AND GURLY GREW THE SEA (<em>page 5</em>)</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> - - -<p class="pfs240 bold">STORY-TELLING<br /> -BALLADS</p> - -<p class="pfs90">SELECTED AND ARRANGED FOR<br /> -STORY-TELLING AND READING ALOUD<br /> -AND FOR<br /> -THE BOYS’ AND GIRLS’ OWN READING</p> - -<p class="pfs80 p2">BY</p> -<p class="pfs120">FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowe4_625" id="colophon"> - <img class="w100 p3 pb3" src="images/colophon.jpg" alt="Colophon" /> -</div> - -<p class="pfs90">BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br /> -<span class="pfs120">HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY</span><br /> -<span class="gothic small">The Riverside Press Cambridge</span><br /> -<span class="pfs120">1920</span></p> - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> - - -<p class="pfs90 p4">COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY FRANCES JENKINS OLCOTT</p> - -<p class="pfs80 pb10">ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p> - - -<p class="gothic small center">The Riverside Press</p> -<p class="pfs70">CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS<br /> -U . S . A</p> - -<hr class="chap pg-brk" /> - -<p class="pfs80 p6">TO MY SISTER</p> - -<p class="pfs100 pb10">VIRGINIA OLCOTT</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>[Pg vii]</span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_FOREWORD">THE FOREWORD</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">Here</span> are 77 story-telling ballads and narrative -poems, that will make the heart beat faster and -the pulse bound, of any boy or girl from twelve to -fifteen years of age.</p> - -<p>They offer a feast of good things—romances, -hero-tales, Faërie legends, and adventures of -Knights and lovely Damsels. They sing of proud -and wicked folk, of gentle and loyal ones, of -Laidley Worms, Witches, Mermaids with golden -combs, sad maidens, glad ones and fearless lovers, -moss-troopers, border-rievers, and Kings in disguise. -All their doings are related in the stirring, -leaping, joyous—or at times martial and mournful-ballad -measure.</p> - -<p>The ancient ballads are here presented exactly -as when in days of old they were sung by minstrels -and recited by gaffers and gammers. No -alterations are made in the texts of the ballad-collectors -and collators, except the changing of a -few objectionable words. Two or three of the less -well-known ballads are done into modern spelling. -A number, not hitherto found in children’s collections, -will be delightfully new to young people. -Some popular ballads, like “King John and the -Abbot of Canterbury,” and “The King and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>[viii]</span> -Miller of Mansfield,” are omitted because they -are in <cite>Story-Telling Poems</cite>.</p> - -<p>A goodly number of famous modern ballads -are included; and at the end of the volume are 10 -short narrative poems of “Pilgrimage and Souls -so Strong.”</p> - -<p>At the end of the book are a Glossary and Indexes -of subjects, authors, titles, and first lines.</p> - - -<h3>TEACHERS, STORY-TELLERS, AND BALLADS</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">Since</span> great care has been taken to choose authoritative -texts (see Acknowledgments, page xv and -Suggestions for Teachers, page 363), the teacher -will find this collection helpful when instructing -classes in early English literature or in ballad -structure and measure.</p> - -<p>The Glossary for classroom use is placed at -the back of the book, not in footnotes, because -children who are reading for enjoyment easily -learn new words from the context.</p> - -<p>The collection may be used for story-hours; or, -as older boys and girls prefer being read aloud to, -in it may be found an abundance of material for -weekly poetry hours and for memorizing.</p> - - -<h3>YOUTH IN THE BALLADS</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ballads</span> are the natural heritage of every boy -and girl. Ballads are tuned to the very pulse of -Youth. They are red-blooded: joyous with the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix"></a>[ix]</span> -freshness of Springtime, and robust with the early -Summer of Life. They appeal with peculiar delight -to growing boys and girls, satisfying, as do -no other poems, their craving for emotional expression -in quick, rhythmic form.</p> - -<p>Ballads not only feed the romantic spirit of -young people, but teach them much homely wisdom. -They are essentially democratic and human. -In them Kings and tinkers, Knights and shepherds, -meet, talk, and feast together like comrades.</p> - -<p>And because the vigour of Youth so animates -the old ballads, young folk read them eagerly, -learn them almost without effort, and recite them -with gusto. The wild, free life in the good greenwood, -the chivalry, mystery, pathos, heroic deeds, -and thrilling experiences—in fact, Life itself -running the whole gamut of human emotions—enthrall -the ever eager, questioning, shifting -moods of boys and girls.</p> - - -<h3>HOW THE BALLADS GREW</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> human and universal in the ancient ballads, -their eternal youthful appeal, are rooted deepset -in the daily life of the People. Their very meter -and airs are natural growths like the sheath of -a wildflower. For in those good old ballad-making -days, minstrels, the welcome guests of rich -and poor, wandered from castle to cot and inn,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x"></a>[x]</span> -from eyrie-like retreats of Highland chiefs to -fortified border-towers of the Lowland or “North -Contraye.” And as the minstrels rested their -harps or bagpipes on the earthen floors of cottages, -or while they sat feasting with nobles in -baronial halls, they heard peasants, working-folk, -servitors, squires, ladies, and returned Crusaders, -telling of their adventures on land and sea, -in fights, battles, border-raids, in abductions of -lovely maidens, in combats with Saracens and -with Laidley monsters, in meetings with Faërie -Knights and Elfin Queens all under the greenwood-shade. -They heard, also, tales of changelings -and visits to Fairyland; stories of Ghosts, -Ghouls, and Witches; legends of the sea; and -traditions of national heroes.</p> - -<p>This material, so varied, so freshly spontaneous -and imaginative, the minstrels shaped into ballads, -setting them to music now wild and weird, -now tragic and mournful, now sweet and debonair. -So they played and sang the ballads in cottage, -bower, and hall, moulding them to the delight -and humours of their hearers, changing them to -suit time and place. Thus there grew up many -versions of a single ballad.</p> - -<p>The old folk, too, the gaffers and gammers by -the fireside, learned the ballads and recited or -sung them to the children; who in their turn, -when they became old, told them to other children.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi"></a>[xi]</span> -Thus the old songs were passed along by -word of mouth from generation to generation, -from countryside to countryside, and even from -one land to another.</p> - - -<h3>MAKING A COLLECTION FOR CHILDREN</h3> - -<p><span class="smcap">As</span> was natural in those coarse old times, much -that was unsuitable for children was woven into -the ballads; which to-day makes it a difficult task -to compile a representative juvenile collection. -For, as Spenser so aptly put it when writing of -Irish bards, they “seldom use to choose unto -themselves the doings of good men for the arguments -of their poems, but whomsoever they find -to be ... most bold and lawless in his doings, -most dangerous and desperate in all parts of disobedience -and rebellious disposition, him they -set up and glorify in their rhymes, him they praise -to the people, and to young men make an example -to follow.”</p> - -<p>But Spenser’s criticism of the Irish bards is -far too violent a stricture on all Scottish and -English ballad literature. For there are Scottish -and English ones, clean, merry, and nobly heroic; -fine and wholesome reading for our boys and -girls.</p> - -<p>For Sir Walter Scott’s romantic tastes and his -interest in Highland and Border life were awakened -and fired, when he was a boy, by reading<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii"></a>[xii]</span> -ballads. And Sir Philip Sydney wrote in his <cite>Defence -of Poetry</cite>, “Certainly, I must confess mine -own barbarousness; I never heard the old song of -Percy and Douglas, that I found not my heart -moved more than with a trumpet; and yet it is -sung but by some blind crowder, with no rougher -voice than rude style ... In Hungary I have seen -it the manner at all feasts, and all other such-like -meetings, to have songs of their ancestors’ valour, -which that right soldier-like nation think one of -the chiefest kindlers of brave courage.”</p> - -<p>But in making a collection of ballads for modern -boys and girls, it is not enough to choose -those that will arouse only the higher emotions. -The interests of young people have to be consulted; -while nothing in extremely difficult Scottish -dialect may be included, nor in very old -English.</p> - -<p>Then there are many versions of individual -ballads to choose from. Of “Hynd Horn” there -are eight or more; of “Young Beichan and -Susie Pye,” fourteen or more; and of other ballads -many versions. Next, authoritative texts -must be found, for some transcribers have made -mistakes or have altered the originals. So it may -be seen what a painstaking task it is to compile a -collection of ballads for educational purposes as -well as for the boys’ and girls’ own reading.</p> - -<p>As for this volume, it covers so wide a range<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiii"></a>[xiii]</span> -of fascinating subjects that it will surely entrance -any lad or lass who, opening its pages for pleasure-reading, -steps with Valentine and Ursine, Robin -Hood and Clorinda, and the brave outlaw Murray, -into</p> - -<p class="center"><em>The gude green-wood amang the lily flower</em>.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[xiv]</a></span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[xv]</a></span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ACKNOWLEDGMENTS">ACKNOWLEDGMENTS</h2> -</div> - - -<p><span class="smcap">My</span> thanks are due Messrs. Houghton Mifflin -Company for the use of the following modern -ballads, “The Ballad of the Oysterman,” by Oliver -Wendell Holmes; “The Luck of Edenhall,” -“The Three Kings,” and “The Skeleton in Armour,” -by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; “The -Singing Leaves,” by James Russell Lowell; “Barclay -of Ury,” by John Greenleaf Whittier.</p> - -<p>Among the authoritative texts from which I -have taken ancient and popular ballads, are Bell’s -<cite>Early Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England</cite>; -Bishop Percy’s <cite>Reliques of Ancient English -Poetry</cite>, and his <cite>Folio Manuscript, edited by Hales -and Furnivall</cite>; <cite>A Collection of Old Ballads</cite>, London, -1723-25; Dixon’s <cite>Ancient Poems, Ballads, and -Songs of the Peasantry of England</cite> (Percy Society); -Jamieson’s <cite>Popular Ballads and Songs</cite>; Monk -Lewis’s <cite>Tales of Wonder</cite>; Motherwell’s <cite>Minstrelsy, -Ancient and Modern</cite>; Nicholson’s <cite>Historical and -Traditional Tales ... Connected with the South of -Scotland</cite>; Ritson’s <cite>Robin Hood</cite>; Sir Walter Scott’s -<cite>Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border</cite>; Sheldon’s <cite>Minstrelsy -of the English Border</cite>; also the scholarly -collection of <cite>English and Scottish Popular Ballads</cite>, -compiled and edited by Professor Francis<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvi"></a>[xvi]</span> -James Child, for the use of which my acknowledgments -are due its publishers, Messrs. Houghton -Mifflin Company.</p> - -<p>The best texts available have been followed -for the original ballads by Sir Walter Raleigh, -George Herbert, Hogg, Scott, Lover, Kingsley, -Tennyson, Campbell, and Keats.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvii"></a>[xvii]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - - -<table class="autotable fs90" width="95%" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#THE_SALT_BLUE_SEAS">THE SALT BLUE SEAS</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Stormy Winds Do Blow</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_2">2</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Sir Patrick Spens</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Dæmon Lover</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_DEMON_LOVER">7</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Mermaid</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Dr. John Leyden</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#A-HARROWING_O_THE_BORDER">A-HARROWING O’ THE BORDER</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Galloway Raid</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Belted Will</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Frederick Sheldon</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#BELTED_WILL">47</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#BRAVE_HEARTS_AND_PROUD">BRAVE HEARTS AND PROUD</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Earl Haldan’s Daughter</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Charles Kingsley</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Lady Clare</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Proud Lady Margaret</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#PROUD_LADY_MARGARET">62</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Famous Flower of Serving-Men</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Greeting of Kynast</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Charles T. Brooks, from Rückert</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_GREETING_OF_KYNAST">74</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#LAYS_O_FAERIE">LAYS O’ FAËRIE</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Fairy Tempter</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Samuel Lover</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Alice Brand</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Sir Walter Scott</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Erl-King</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Sir Walter Scott, from Goethe</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Fairy Thorn</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Samuel Ferguson</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FAIRY_THORN">87</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">La Belle Dame sans Merci</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>John Keats</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#LA_BELLE_DAME_SANS_MERCI">91</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xviii"></a>[xviii]</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Thomas the Rhymer</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THOMAS_THE_RHYMER">93</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Kelpie of Corrievreckan</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Charles Mackay</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_KELPIE_OF_CORRIEVRECKAN">97</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Kilmeny</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>The Ettrick Shepherd</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#KILMENY">101</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#LAYS_O_WONDER">LAYS O’ WONDER</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Wee Wee Man</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Earl of Mar’s Daughter</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Kemp Owyne</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Lady of Shalott</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LADY_OF_SHALOTT">124</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Singing Leaves</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>James Russell Lowell</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_SINGING_LEAVES">131</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Luck of Edenhall</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from Uhland</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LUCK_OF_EDENHALL">135</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">May of the Moril Glen</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>The Ettrick Shepherd</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Laidley Worm o’ Spindleston-Heughs</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_LAIDLEY_WORM">148</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#MERRY_GESTES">MERRY GESTES</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">A Tragic Story</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>William Makepeace Thackeray, from Chamisso</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Little Billee</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>William Makepeace Thackeray</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Brian o’Linn</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#BRIAN_OLINN">160</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Dicky of Ballyman</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#DICKY_OF_BALLYMAN">162</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Ballad of the Oysterman</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Oliver Wendell Holmes</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#BALLAD_OF_THE_OYSTERMAN">164</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Cinder King</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Modern, anon.</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Frolicksome Duke; or, the Tinker’s Good Fortune</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">King James the First and the Tinkler</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#KING_JAMES_THE_FIRST">173</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">King Alfred and the Shepherd</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#KING_ALFRED">176</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xix"></a>[xix]</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#SAD_GESTES">SAD GESTES</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Sands of Dee</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Charles Kingsley</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_190">190</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Fair Anny of Roch-royal</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Cruel Sister</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_CRUEL_SISTER">196</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Barbara Allen’s Cruelty</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#BARBARA_ALLEN">201</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Song: Earl March Looked on his Dying Child</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Thomas Campbell</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#EARL_MARCH_LOOKED">203</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Lord Lovel</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#LORD_LOVEL">204</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#PRETTY_MAYS_AND_KNIGHTS_SO_BOLD">PRETTY MAYS AND KNIGHTS SO BOLD</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Noble Riddle</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Blancheflour and Jellyflorice</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Glenara</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Thomas Campbell</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#GLENARA">212</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Beggar-Maid</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_BEGGAR_MAID">214</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Lochinvar</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Sir Waller Scott</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#LOCHINVAR">215</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Gay Goss-Hawk</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Bonny Baby Livingston</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#BONNY_BABY_LIVINGSTON">224</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Hynd Horn</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#HYND_HORN">231</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Young Beichan and Susie Pye</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Child of Elle</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_244">244</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#FOR_HALLOWEEN_AND_MIDSUMMER_EVE">FOR HALLOWEEN AND MIDSUMMER EVE</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Spell</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>John Gay</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Young Tamlane</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Wife of Usher’s Well</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_WIFE_OF_USHER">263</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Sir Roland</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#SIR_ROLAND">265</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Skeleton in Armour</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>H. W. Longfellow</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_SKELETON_IN_ARMOUR">270</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Sweet William’s Ghost</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#SWEET_WILLIAM">276</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Eve of St. John</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Sir Walter Scott</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_EVE_OF_ST_JOHN">279</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xx"></a>[xx]</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#ALL_UNDER_THE_GREENWOOD_TREE">ALL UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Birth o’ Robin Hood</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_290">290</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Robin Hood and Little John</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Robin Hood and Clorinda</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#ROBIN_HOOD_AND_CLORINDA">297</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Song of the Outlaw Murray</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#SONG_OF_THE_OUTLAW_MURRAY">301</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Valentine and Ursine</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_314">314</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#O_PILGRIMAGE_AND_SOULS_SO_STRONG">O’ PILGRIMAGE AND SOULS SO STRONG</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Pilgrim</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>John Bunyan</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Heart of the Bruce</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>William Edmondstoune Aytoun</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_333">333</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Barclay of Ury</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>John Greenleaf Whittier</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#BARCLAY_OF_URY">341</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Touchstone</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>William Allingham</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_347">347</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Sir Galahad</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#SIR_GALAHAD">348</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Pilgrimage</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Sir Walter Raleigh</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#PILGRIMAGE">351</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Royal Court</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Modern, anon.</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_ROYAL_COURT">353</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">True Valour</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>John Bunyan</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_355">355</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Peace</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>George Herbert</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_356">356</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">The Three Kings</span></td> -<td class="tdrp"><em>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</em></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_THREE_KINGS">357</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="fs100"><a href="#APPENDIX">APPENDIX</a></span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Suggestions for Teachers</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_363">363</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Programme for a Year of Ballad-Reading and Study</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#PROGRAMME">366</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Glossary</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#GLOSSARY">373</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Subject Index</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_385">385</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Index of First Lines</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_390">390</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdlp"><span class="smcap">Index of Titles and Authors</span></td> -<td class="tdr"></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_392">392</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxi"></a>[xxi]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p4" id="ILLUSTRATIONS">ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - - -<table class="autotable fs90" width="95%" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">The lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud, and gurly grew the sea</span></td> -<td class="tdrb fs70"><a href="#ifrontis"><em>Frontispiece</em></a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">“I fear not sign,” quoth the grisly elf, “that is made with bloody hands”</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i084f">84</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">He turned him round; but still it hung behind him</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i158f">158</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">But springing up, he raised his club, and aimed a dreadful blow</span></td> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#i318f">318</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="THE_SALT_BLUE_SEAS">THE SALT BLUE SEAS</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE STORMY WINDS DO BLOW</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>One Friday morn when we set sail,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Not very far from land,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>We there did espy a fair pretty maid</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a comb and a glass in her hand, her hand, her hand,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a comb and a glass in her hand.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>While the raging seas did roar,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent6"><em>And the stormy winds did blow,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>While we jolly sailor-boys were up into the top,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent6"><em>And the land-lubbers lying down below, below, below,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent6"><em>And the land-lubbers lying down below.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Then up starts the captain of our gallant ship,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And a brave young man was he:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“I’ve a wife and a child in fair Bristol town,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>But a widow I fear she will be.”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Then up starts the mate of our gallant ship,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And a bold young man was he:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“Oh! I have a wife in fair Portsmouth town,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>But a widow I fear she will be.”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Then up starts the cook of our gallant ship,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And a gruff old soul was he:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“Oh! I have a wife in fair Plymouth town,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>But a widow I fear she will be.”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And then up spoke the little cabin-boy,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And a pretty little boy was he:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“Oh! I am more grievd for my daddy and my mammy,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Than you for your wives all three.”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Then three times round went our gallant ship,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And three times round went she:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>For the want of a life-boat they all went down,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And she sank to the bottom of the sea.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>While the raging seas did roar,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent6"><em>And the stormy winds did blow,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>While we jolly sailor-boys were up into the top,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent6"><em>And the land-lubbers lying down below, below, below,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent6"><em>And the land-lubbers lying down below.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>SIR PATRICK SPENS</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> king sits in Dunfermline town,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Drinking the blude-red wine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O whare will I get a skeely skipper,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To sail this new ship of mine?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O up and spake an eldern knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sat at the king’s right knee,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sir Patrick Spens is the best sailor,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever sailed the sea.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Our king has written a braid letter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And seal’d it with his hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sent it to sir Patrick Spens,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was walking on the strand.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“To Noroway, to Noroway,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Noroway o’er the faem;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The king’s daughter of Noroway,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis thou maun bring her hame.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The first word that sir Patrick read,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sae loud loud laughed he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The neist word that sir Patrick read,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The tear blinded his ee.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span></div> -</div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O wha is this has done this deed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tauld the king o’ me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To send us out, at this time of the year,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To sail upon the sea?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Be it wind, be it weet, be it hail, be it sleet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our ship must sail the faem;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The king’s daughter of Noroway,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis we must fetch her hame.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They hoysed their sails on Monenday morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ a’ the speed they may;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They hae landed in Noroway,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon a Wodensday.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They hadna been a week, a week,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Noroway, but twae,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When that the lords o’ Noroway</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Began aloud to say,—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye Scottishmen spend a’ our king’s goud,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a’ our queenis fee.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye lie, ye lie, ye liars loud!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fu’ loud I hear ye lie:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For I brought as much white monie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As gane my men and me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I brought a half-fou o’ gude red goud,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out o’er the sea wi’ me.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span></div> -</div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Make ready, make ready, my merrymen a’!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our gude ship sails the morn,”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, ever alake, my master dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I fear a deadly storm!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I saw the new moon, late yestreen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ the auld moon in her arm;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, if we gang to sea, master,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I fear we’ll come to harm.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They hadna sail’d a league, a league,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A league but barely three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the lift grew dark, and the wind blew loud,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gurly grew the sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The ankers brak, and the top-masts lap,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It was sic a deadly storm;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the waves cam o’er the broken ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till a’ her sides were torn.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O where will I get a gude sailor,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To take my helm in hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till I get up to the tall top-mast;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To see if I can spy land?”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O here am I, a sailor gude,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To take the helm in hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till you go up to the tall top-mast;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But I fear you’ll ne’er spy land.”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span></div> -</div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He hadna gane a step, a step,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A step but barely ane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When a bout flew out of our goodly ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the salt sea it cam in.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Gae, fetch a web o’ the silken claith,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Another o’ the twine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wap them into our ship’s side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And letna the sea come in.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They fetch’d a web o’ the silken claith,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Another o’ the twine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they wapp’d them round that gude ship’s side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But still the sea cam in.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O laith, laith, were our gude Scots lords</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To weet their cork-heel’d shoon!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But lang or a’ the play was play’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They wat their hats aboon.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And mony was the feather bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That flatter’d on the faem;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And mony was the gude lord’s son,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That never mair cam hame.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The ladyes wrang their fingers white,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The maidens tore their hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A’ for the sake of their true loves;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For them they’ll see na mair.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O lang, lang, may the ladyes sit,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ their fans into their hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before they see sir Patrick Spens</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come sailing to the strand!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And lang, lang, may the maidens sit,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With their goud kaims in their hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A’waiting for their ain dear loves!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For them they’ll see nae mair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O forty miles off Aberdeen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis fifty fathoms deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there lies gude sir Patrick Spens,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_DEMON_LOVER"></a>THE DÆMON LOVER</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<span class="smcap">O where</span> have you been, my long, long love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This long seven years and mair?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O I’m come to seek my former vows</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye granted me before.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O hold your tongue of your former vows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For they will breed sad strife;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O hold your tongue of your former vows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For I am become a wife.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He turned him right and round about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the tear blinded his ee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I wad never hae trodden on Irish ground,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If it had not been for thee.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I might hae had a king’s daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Far, far beyond the sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I might have had a king’s daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Had it not been for love o thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If ye might have had a king’s daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Yer sel ye had to blame;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye might have taken the king’s daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For ye kend that I was nane.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If I was to leave my husband dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And my two babes also,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O what have you to take me to,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If with you I should go?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I hae seven ships upon the sea—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The eighth brought me to land—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With four-and-twenty bold mariners,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And music on every hand.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She has taken up her two little babes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Kissd them baith cheek and chin:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O fair ye weel, my ain two babes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For I’ll never see you again.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She set her foot upon the ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No mariners could she behold;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the sails were o the taffetie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the masts o the beaten gold.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She had not sailed a league, a league,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A league but barely three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When dismal grew his countenance,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And drumlie grew his ee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They had not saild a league, a league,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A league but barely three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until she espied his cloven foot,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And she wept right bitterlie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O hold your tongue of your weeping,” says he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Of your weeping now let me be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I will shew you how the lilies grow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the banks of Italy.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O what hills are yon, yon pleasant hills,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That the sun shines sweetly on?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O yon are the hills of heaven,” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Where you will never win.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O whaten a mountain is yon,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“All so dreary wi frost and snow?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O yon is the mountain of hell,” he cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Where you and I will go.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He strack the tap-mast wi his hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fore-mast wi his knee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he brake that gallant ship in twain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sank her in the sea.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE MERMAID</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">On</span> Jura’s heath how sweetly swell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The murmurs of the mountain bee!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How softly mourns the writhed shell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of Jura’s shore, its parent sea!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But softer, floating o’er the deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Mermaid’s sweet sea-soothing lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That charmed the dancing waves to sleep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before the bark of Colonsay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Aloft the purple pennons wave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As parting gay from Crinan’s shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From Morven’s wars the seamen brave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their gallant Chieftain homeward bore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In youth’s gay bloom, the brave Macphail</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Still blamed the lingering bark’s delay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For her he chid the flagging sail,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The lovely Maid of Colonsay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And raise,” he cried, “the song of love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The maiden sung with tearful smile,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When first, o’er Jura’s hills to rove,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We left afar the lonely isle!—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘When on this ring of ruby red</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall die,’ she said, ‘the crimson hue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Know that thy favourite fair is dead,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or proves to thee and love untrue.’”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Now, lightly poised, the rising oar</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Disperses wide the foamy spray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, echoing far o’er Crinan’s shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Resounds the song of Colonsay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Softly blow, thou western breeze,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Softly rustle through the sail!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Soothe to rest the furrowy seas,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before my Love, sweet western gale!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus, all to soothe the Chieftain’s woe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Far from the maid he loved so dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The song arose, so soft and slow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He seemed her parting sigh to hear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The lonely deck he paces o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Impatient for the rising day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And still, from Crinan’s moonlight shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He turns his eyes to Colonsay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The moonbeams crisp the curling surge,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That streaks with foam the ocean green:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While forward still the rowers urge</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their course, a female form was seen.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">That Sea-maid’s form, of pearly light,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was whiter than the downy spray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And round her bosom, heaving bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her glossy, yellow ringlets play.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Borne on a foamy-crested wave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She reached amain the bounding prow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then clasping fast the Chieftain brave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She, plunging, sought the deep below.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah! long beside thy feigned bier,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The monks the prayers of death shall say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And long, for thee, the fruitless tear</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall weep the Maid of Colonsay!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">But</span> downwards, like a powerless corse;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The eddying waves the Chieftain bear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He only heard the moaning hoarse</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of waters, murmuring in his ear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The murmurs sink, by slow degrees;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No more the surges round him rave;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lulled by the music of the seas,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He lies within a coral cave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In dreamy mood reclines he long,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor dares his tranced eyes unclose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till, warbling wild, the Sea-maid’s song,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Far in the crystal cavern, rose;</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“This yellow sand, this sparry cave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall bend thy soul to beauty’s sway;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Canst thou the maiden of the wave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Compare to her of Colonsay?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Roused by that voice, of silver sound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From the paved floor he lightly sprung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, glancing wild his eyes around,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where the fair Nymph her tresses wrung,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No form he saw of mortal mould;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It shone like ocean’s snowy foam;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her ringlets waved in living gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her mirror crystal, pearl her comb.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her pearly comb the Siren took,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And careless bound her tresses wild;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still o’er the mirror stole her look,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As on the wondering youth she smiled.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Like music from the greenwood tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Again she raised the melting lay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Fair Warrior, wilt thou dwell with me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And leave the Maid of Colonsay?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Fair is the crystal hall for me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With rubies and with emeralds set,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sweet the music of the sea</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall sing, when we for love are met.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“How sweet to dance, with gliding feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Along the level tide so green,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Responsive to the cadence sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That breathes along the moonlight scene!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And soft the music of the main</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Rings from the motley tortoise-shell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While moonbeams, o’er the watery plain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Seem trembling in its fitful swell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Through the green meads beneath the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Enamoured, we shall fondly stray—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, gentle warrior, dwell with me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And leave the Maid of Colonsay!”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Though bright thy locks of glistening gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fair maiden of the foamy main!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy life-blood is the water cold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While mine beats high in every vein.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Though all the splendour of the sea</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Around thy faultless beauty shine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That heart, that riots wild and free,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Can hold no sympathy with mine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“These sparkling eyes, so wild and gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They swim not in the light of love:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The beauteous Maid of Colonsay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her eyes are milder than the dove!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Even now, within the lonely isle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her eyes are dim with tears for me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And canst thou think that siren smile</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Can lure my soul to dwell with thee?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An oozy film her limbs o’erspread;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unfolds in length her scaly train:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She tossed, in proud disdain, her head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And lashed, with webbed fin, the main.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Dwell here, alone!” the Mermaid cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And view far off the Sea-nymphs play;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy prison-wall, the azure tide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall bar thy steps from Colonsay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Whene’er, like Ocean’s scaly brood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I cleave, with rapid fin, the wave,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Far from the daughter of the flood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Conceal thee in this coral cave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I feel my former soul return;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It kindles at thy cold disdain:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And has a mortal dared to spurn</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A daughter of the foamy main!”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She fled; around the crystal cave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The rolling waves resume their road</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the broad portal idly rave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But enter not the Nymph’s abode.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And many a weary night went by,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As in the lonely cave he lay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And many a sun rolled through the sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And poured its beams on Colonsay;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And oft, beneath the silver moon,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He heard afar the Mermaid sing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And oft, to many a melting tune,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The shell-formed lyres of ocean ring:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when the moon went down the sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Still rose, in dreams, his native plain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And oft he thought his love was by,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And charmed him with some tender strain;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And heart-sick, oft he waked to weep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When ceased that voice of silver sound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thought to plunge him in the deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That walled his crystal cavern round.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But still the ring, of ruby red,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Retained its vivid crimson hue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And each despairing accent fled,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To find his gentle Love so true.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">When</span> seven long lonely months were gone,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Mermaid to his cavern came,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No more misshapen from the zone,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But like a maid of mortal frame.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O give to me that ruby ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That on thy finger glances gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thou shalt hear the Mermaid sing</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The song, thou lovest, of Colonsay.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“This ruby ring, of crimson grain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall on thy finger glitter gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If thou wilt bear me through the main,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Again to visit Colonsay.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Except thou quit thy former Love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Content to dwell for aye with me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thy scorn my finny frame might move,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To tear thy limbs amid the sea.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Then bear me swift along the main,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The lonely isle again to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, when I here return again,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I plight my faith to dwell with thee.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An oozy film her limbs o’erspread,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While slow unfolds her scaly train.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With gluey fangs her hands were clad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She lashed, with webbed fin, the main.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He grasps the Mermaid’s scaly sides,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As, with broad fin, she oars her way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beneath the silent moon she glides,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That sweetly sleeps on Colonsay.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Proud swells her heart! she deems, at last,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To lure him with her silver tongue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, as the shelving rocks she past,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She raised her voice, and sweetly sung.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In softer, sweeter strains she sung,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Slow gliding o’er the moonlight bay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When light to land the Chieftain sprung,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To hail the Maid of Colonsay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! sad the Mermaid’s gay notes fell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sadly sink remote at sea!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So sadly mourns the writhed shell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of Jura’s shore, its parent sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And ever as the year returns,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The charm-bound sailors know the day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For sadly still the Mermaid mourns</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The lovely Chief of Colonsay.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Dr. John Leyden. (Condensed)</em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="A-HARROWING_O_THE_BORDER">A-HARROWING O’ THE BORDER</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE GALLOWAY RAID</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The reavers of Eskdale were mounted for weir,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And Annandale moss-troopers grasped the spear;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And the blades that they bore in the sun glittered bright;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And breast-plate and helmet reflected the light.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>They spurred the fleet charger thro’ bog and thro’ brake;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>To the yell of their slogan the echoes awake;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The Johnstones and Jardines cry, “Lads, we’ll away,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And we’ll foray the pastures of Fair Galloway!”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The men were determined—their steeds they were strong,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And eager for plunder they pranced along;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The clang of their weapons rung loud on the dale,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And their helmet-plumes waving aloft an the gale.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Beholdst thou the beacon-light gleaming afar,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>On misty Glenbennan, the signal of war?</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Bengairn and Caerlochan their blazes display,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And they warn the bold spearmen of Fair Galloway.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But the damsels of Esk and of Annan may mourn,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And in vain may they look for their lovers’ return;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>On the green dale of Dryburgh they rest in their grave,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And o’er them the hemlock and rank nettles wave.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And few have escaped from the Galloway spear,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>That followed the flying and glanced in their rear,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And the moss-troopers’ widows are ruing the day</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Their husbands departed for Fair Galloway.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right">(<em>Condensed</em>)</p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE MORE MODERN BALLAD OF CHEVY-CHASE</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">God</span> prosper long our noble King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our liffes and saftyes all!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A woefull hunting once there was</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Chevy-Chase befall.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To drive the deere with hound and horne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Erle Percy took the way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The child may rue that is unborne</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The hunting of that day!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The stout Erle of Northumberland</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A vow to God did make,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His pleasure in the Scottish woods</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Three sommers days to take;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The cheefest harts in Chevy-Chase</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To kill and beare away.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">These tydings to Erle Douglas came,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Scottland where he lay,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who sent Erle Percy present word,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He wold prevent his sport,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The English Erle, not fearing that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did to the woods resort,</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All chosen men of might,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who knew ffull well in time of neede</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To ayme their shafts arright.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The gallant greyhounds swiftly ran</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To chase the fallow deere;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On Munday they began to hunt</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ere daylight did appeare;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And long before high noone they had</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A hundred fat buckes slaine.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then having dined, the drovyers went</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To rouze the deare againe;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bowmen mustered on the hills,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Well able to endure;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Theire backsids all with speciall care,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That day were guarded sure.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The hounds ran swiftly through the woods</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The nimble deere to take,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That with their cryes the hills and dales</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An eccho shrill did make.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Lord Percy to the quarry went</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To view the tender deere;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quoth he, “Erle Douglas promised once</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This day to meete me heere;</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But if I thought he wold not come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Noe longer wold I stay.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With that, a brave younge gentlman</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thus to the Erle did say,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Loe, yonder doth Erle Douglas come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His men in armour bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Full twenty hundred Scottish speres</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All marching in our sight,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“All men of pleasant Tivydale,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fast by the river Tweede:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O ceaze your sportts!” Erle Percy said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And take your bowes with speede.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And now with me, my countrymen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your courage forth advance!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For there was never champion yett</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Scottland nor in France,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“That ever did on horsbacke come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But if my hap it were,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I durst encounter man for man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With him to breake a spere.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Erle Douglas on his milke white steede,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Most like a Baron bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rode formost of his company,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whose armour shone like gold.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Shew me,” sayd hee, “whose men you bee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That hunt soe boldly heere,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That without my consent doe chase</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And kill my fallow deere.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The first man that did answer make</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was noble Percy hee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who sayd, “Wee list not to declare,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor shew whose men wee bee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yett wee will spend our deerest blood</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy cheefest harts to slay.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Douglas swore a solempne oathe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And thus in rage did say;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ere thus I will outbraved bee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One of us tow shall dye!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I know thee well! an Erle thou art,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lord Percy! Soe am I;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But trust me, Percye, pittye it were,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And great offence, to kill</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then any of these our guiltlesse men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For they have done none ill;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Let thou and I the battell trye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And set our men aside.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Accurst bee he!” Erle Percy sayd,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“By whome it is denyed.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then stept a gallant Squire forth,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Witherington was his name,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who said, “I wold not have it told</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Henery our King, for shame,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“That ere my captaine fought on foote,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I stand looking on:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You bee two Erles,” quoth Witherington,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And I a Squier alone,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ile doe the best that doe I may,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While I have power to stand!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While I have power to weeld my sword,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ile fight with hart and hand!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Our English archers bend their bowes—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their harts were good and trew,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Att the first flight of arrowes sent,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Full foure score Scotts they slew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To drive the deere with hound and horne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Douglas bade on the bent;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Two captaines moved with mickle might</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their speres to shivers went.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They closed full fast on everye side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Noe slacknes there was found,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But many a gallant gentleman</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lay gasping on the ground.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O Christ! it was great greeve to see</div> - <div class="verse indent2">How eche man chose his spere,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And how the blood out of their brests</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did gush like water cleare!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At last these two stout Erles did meet</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like captaines of great might;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like Lyons wood they layd on lode,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They made a cruell fight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They fought untill they both did sweat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With swords of tempered steele,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till blood a-downe their cheekes like raine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They trickling downe did feele.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O yeeld thee, Percye!” Douglas sayd,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And infaith I will thee bringe</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where thou shall high advanced bee</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By James our Scottish King;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thy ransome I will freely give,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And this report of thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou art the most couragious Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever I did see.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Noe, Douglas!” quoth Erle Percy then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Thy profer I doe scorne;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I will not yeelde to any Scott</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever yett was borne!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With that there came an arrow keene</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out of an English bow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who scorke Erle Douglas on the brest</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A deepe and deadlye blow;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who never sayd more words then these,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Fight on my merrymen all!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For why, my life is att an end,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lord Percy sees my fall.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then leaving liffe, Erle Percy tooke</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The dead man by the hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And said, “Erle Douglas! for thy sake</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wold I had lost my land!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Christ! my verry hart doth bleed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For sorrow for thy sake!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For sure, a more redoubted Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Mischance cold never take!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">A Knight</span> amongst the Scotts there was,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which saw Erle Douglas dye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who streight in hart did vow revenge</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon the Lord Percye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Hugh Mountgomerye was he called,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who, with a spere full bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Well mounted on a gallant steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ran feircly through the fight,</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And past the English archers all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Without all dread or feare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And through Erle Percyes body then</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He thrust his hatfull spere,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With such a vehement force and might,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That his body he did gore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The staff ran through the other side</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A large cloth yard and more.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus did both those nobles dye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whose courage none cold staine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An English archer then perceived</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The noble Erle was slaine,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He had a good bow in his hand</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Made of a trusty tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An arrow of a cloth yard long</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the hard head haled hee,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Against Sir Hugh Mountgomerye</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His shaft full right he sett;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The grey goose winge that was there-on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In his harts bloode was wett.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This fight from breake of day did last</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till setting of the sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For when they rung the Evening bell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The battele scarse was done.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With stout Erle Percy there was slaine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir John of Egerton,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Robert Harcliffe and Sir William,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir James that bold barron;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And with Sir George and Sir James,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Both Knights of good account;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And good Sir Raphe Rebbye there was slaine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whose prowesse did surmount.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For Witherington needs must I wayle</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As one in doleful dumpes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For when his leggs were smitten of,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He fought upon his stumpes.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And with Erle Douglas there was slaine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Hugh Mountgomerye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Sir Charles Morrell that from feelde</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One foote wold never flee;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Roger Hever of Harcliffe tow,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His sisters sonne was hee,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir David Lamb so well esteemed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But saved he cold not bee;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Lord Maxwell in like case</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With Douglas he did dye;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of twenty hundred Scottish speeres,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Scarce fifty five did flye;</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Of fifteen hundred Englishmen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Went home but fifty three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The rest in Chevy-Chase were slaine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Under the greenwoode tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Next day did many widdowes come</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their husbands to bewayle;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They washt their wounds in brinish teares,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But all wold not prevayle.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Theyr bodyes bathed in purple blood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They bore with them away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They kist them dead a thousand times</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ere they were cladd in clay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The newes was brought to Eddenborrow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where Scottland’s King did rayne,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That brave Erle Douglas soddainlye</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was with an arrow slaine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O heavy newes!” King James can say,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Scottland may wittenesse bee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I have not any captaine more</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of such account as hee!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Like tydings to King Henery came</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Within as short a space,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That Percy of Northumberland</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was slaine in Chevy-Chase.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now God be with him!” said our King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Sith it will noe better bee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I trust I have within my realme</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Five hundred as good as hee!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yett shall not Scotts nor Scottland say</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But I will vengeance take,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And be revenged on them all</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For brave Erle Percyes sake.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This vow the King did well performe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">After on Humble Downe;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In one day fifty Knights were slayne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With Lords of great renowne,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And of the rest of small account,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did many hundreds dye:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus endeth the hunting in Chevy-Chase</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Made by the Erle Percye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">God save our King, and blesse this land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With plentye, joy, and peace;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And grant hencforth that foule debate</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Twixt noble men may ceaze!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="center">ffins.</p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE BALLAD OF MEIKLE-MOUTHED MEG</h3> -</div> - -<h4>BOLD WILLIE SCOTT</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> moonbeam glints on tower and hill,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It’s hey! for the bonny moonlight!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go saddle my steed, I’ll ride betimes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The English Border to-night.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Take tent, good lad, the Warder’s men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Are riding over the land.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Tuts! six Scotts lads will keep two score</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of such feckless loons at a stand!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! they were twenty stout and bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Mounted on active naigs;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Some armed wi’ guns and Jeddart staves,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ iron round their craigs.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Young Scott o’ Harden, led them on</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the lands o’ Elibank;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Good faith, I wat Sir Gideon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will no his kindness thank.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He left his towers by Ettrick’s stream,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His minnie’s proverb scorning;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When Scotts set foot in the stirrup-ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The blood will flow ere morning.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Gideon and young Willie Scott</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Were ever deadly foes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ere they shall clasp each other’s hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Gowan shall grow on the Rose.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE RAID</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">They</span> gained the lands o’ Elibank,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gathered the gear together;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They counted tens, and came to scores,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And drove them out the heather.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There was not a Murray on the lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Young Scott his heart was light;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“There’ll be a dry breakfast at Elibank,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At Oakwood, a meal to-night.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They got half way to Ettrick stream,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When they heard a sleuth-hound yell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Scott well kenned his mortal foe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pursued him o’er the fell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Gideon was a doure fierce man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A terror to a foe;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He had a wife and daughters three,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Well dowered they were I trow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He let young Harden steal his cows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And, oh! his arm was slack;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the grim old Knight was looking on</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ fifty men at his back.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I have thee now like a thief in a mill,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Gideon o’ Elibank said;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He gave the word to loose the hounds;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the hot pursuit he led.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Young Scott, yield quietly to me,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Gideon loudly cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Or a thief’s death shall ye die,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If ye the onset bide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye’ve driven off my cows and sheep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And byre and fold are toom,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The corbies and ye shall be acquaint,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For what this night ye’ve done.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Brag on! brag on! ye old greybeard!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While Scott o’ Harden stands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No power on earth shall make him yield</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To any o’ Murray’s bands.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So do your best, and do your worst,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Here’s a hand and sword to fight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I trow a Scott ne’er turned his back</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whilst a Murray was in sight.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Small mercy after what ye’ve stol’n,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I had designed for thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But, callant, after what ye’ve said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll prove your enemy.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou old man, measure weapons then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I would have ye leave</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your well-faured daughters to the world,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For your loss must they grieve.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Before sunrise,” quoth Gideon,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“You’ll speak less vauntingly;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Say what ye like of me, you dog,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But leave my bairnies be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The strife went high and bloodily,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They grappled at the throat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And many was the Elibank,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The reavers deadly smote.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The guns banged off, the sleuth-hounds yelled,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The cattle rowted sore;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And many wights lay on the ground,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That up rose never more.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The fray went hard wi’ Willie Scott,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His horse fell wi’ a bound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And many Murrays wi’ their swords</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bore him unto the ground.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE GALLOWS OR MARRIAGE</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Lady Murray</span> came forth at noon,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To welcome her husband home;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there she spied young Scott o’ Harden,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All bounden and his lone.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They thrust the Scott in a darksome room,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And left him to his thought;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But neither bread nor yet red wine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unto the youth they brought.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And what, Lord Gideon,” said his dame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Will ye do wi’ young Scott?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Do ye see yonder branch o’ the elm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For that shall be his lot.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O goodman,” quo’ his pitying dame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Ye could not do this thing;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For lifting a pickle o’ your nowt,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So brave a lad to hing!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What mercy did ever a Scott o’ them</div> - <div class="verse indent2">E’er show to me or mine?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The reaving Scotts shall surely weep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The last of all their line.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She said, “But we have daughters three,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they are no well-faured,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When ye’ve a husband to your hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To hang him would be hard.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sooth, goodwife, faith, but ye are right!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There’s wisdom in your say;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This birkie Scott shall have his choice,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To wed what one he may.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We’ll give him respite to the morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor hang him ’gainst all law;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To marry our daughter Meikle-Mouthed Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or choke with the death-thraw.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Quo’ she, “To marry our daughter Meg</div> - <div class="verse indent2">More wiselike would it be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Than kill the hope of an old, old House</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And strap him to the tree.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Quo’ he, “If I were in his place,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I would refuse I ween,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And die a death upon the tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than wed what I’d ne’er seen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go ye, and tell our daughter Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That she’s be wived the morn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I will to this young gallant,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And see what he perform.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She went unto her daughter Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who had a meikle mouth;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But her teeth were pearls, and her honey breath</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was like the wind from the South.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The mother sat by her daughter’s side;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Sweet Meg, come tell me this,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wouldst thou the rather be a bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then live in singleness?</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Before I was your age, I trow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I was in a bride her place.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Aye, mother,” quo’ Meg, and sighed full sore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“But ye had a well-faured face.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But you shall see the Ettrick stream</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Run thro’ the dells o’ Yarrow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before ye hear o’ an offer to me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or a man to be my marrow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My face is foul, my heart is large,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A kinder none there is;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And must I pass away my days,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In sullen loneliness?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The mother told her of young Scott,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And waited her reply;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Mother, I’d rather marry him</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than ever he should die!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But the tears rose welling from their spring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And filled her cushat eyes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“But, Mother, how if when we’re wed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He should my heart despise?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, marriage,” quo’ the wily dame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Is not that hard to snoove,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If ye should marry Willie Scott,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye’ll be like hand and glove.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span>Sir Gideon entered young Scott’s dungeon;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Thy death is at my hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye came as a thief in the dead o’ night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And stole my cows from my land.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But I’ll give ye a chance for life,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For all ye have said of me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Either to marry my daughter Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or hang upon yonder tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And the boldest Scott on the Border March,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall never take ye down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until your skeleton is seen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ye drop away bone by bone.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And ye would spare my life,” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For all ye come so gleg,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If I would stoop and give my hand</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To your bonny daughter Meg?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye are the Murray of Elibank,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I Scott of Oakwood Tower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I would not marry your daughter Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tho’ a kingdom were her dower;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But little I fear to meet my death,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As I do to tell you this;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An ye had fallen in my hands,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Such were your fate, I wiss.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye think that your winsome daughter Meg,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh! he spoke so scornfully,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Will get a husband at the last,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But, faith, my lad, ye lie,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I rather choose upon the gallows</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To render up my breath;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I trow there will be Scots enough</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Left to revenge my death.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There is my thumb, thou young braggart,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Gideon chafing cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I wouldn’t hinder ye your choice</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For death shall be your bride.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And let the Scots o’ a’ the Border</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Revenge your death that dare.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He left young Scott unto himself,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And quit his dungeon stair.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>YOUNG WILLIE’S MESSENGER</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">It</span> was about the midnight time,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When his dungeon door ga’ed back;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the sentinel who guarded it</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Let in a woman in black.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What want ye wi’ me, fair Maiden?”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Scott o’ Harden said.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I come to ask if thy dying wish</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Can be by me obeyed?</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I am a lassie o’ the house,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And wait on Sir Gideon’s dame;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And tho’ ye have refused poor Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her prayers will be the same.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Why has Dame Murray sent thee here?”—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“She has a woman’s heart.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye have a mother and sisters twain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From whom full soon ye part.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If ye have anything to say,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye would have carried there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I swear by all that’s good on earth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To be your messenger.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Maiden,” quo’ he, and his voice was low,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Of my mother do not speak;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wish to die as my father’s son,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And yet her heart I break.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“It cannot be,” then said the girl,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Ye have rejected Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Without the looking on her face?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’m sure your life she’d beg.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I have not seen, but I have heard</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her face described to me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, by my faith, between the two,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll chose the gallows-tree.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The tears fell from that poor girl’s eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In anger or in spleen?—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ever and anon she sighed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And deep sobs came between.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Belike,” quo’ she, “they’ve painted her</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Far worse than she may look;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Many a man has an ugly wife,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That the gallows could not brook.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I have no wish to see her face,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Far less to marry her;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ye seem o’ a kindly heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And aiblins are as fair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So let me see your face, my joy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And by your countenance,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll see if I dare trust you with</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A letter for my chance?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She threw the veil from off her face,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I’m no well faured I know;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But kernels lie inside hard shells,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gold in the earth below.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So sweet and sensible ye speak,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye almost make me wish,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Meikle-Mouthed Meg was like to you,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So kind, so young, so lish.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He held the light within the cruse</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Close to the maiden’s face,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wi’ loof o’er e’en, he earnestly</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Perused each simple grace.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He saw her face was fair and round,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her lips like a large rose-leaf;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her snow-white teeth so even showed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like ivory from their sheath.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There stood a tear in her dove-blue eye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her eye so mild and meek,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A large tear slowly left the lid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And trickled down her cheek.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye have the look that never lied,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tho’ no fine your face,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye’ve pleasing sense and kindliness</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ every modest grace.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So bring to me the writing ink,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The paper and pen so fine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And tho’ ye abide wi’ my enemy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye’ll take my mother a line.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She rolled it up so carefully,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The letter he writ so fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She had no silk, but she tied it with</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A lock o’ her golden hair.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span></p> - -<h4>THE GALLOWS-TREE</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">It</span> was by cock-crowing the morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When Meg wi’ crippled feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like one that had a long way walked</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Came in, her sire to greet.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Grant me another day,” she cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For young Willie Scott his life;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And throw not by the chance, your Meg</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Has to become a wife.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Gideon rubbed his hands in glee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I grant it for your sake;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But if he then refuse your hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He shall his own way take.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Much wondered the Laird o’ Oakwood Tower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fell the evening gloom,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They did not hang him in the morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As he had heard his doom.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He heard the sentry shoot the bolt,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a kind o’ murmuring;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And then his mother and sisters two</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ loud outcries break in.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And, “O my Son!” the mother cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Is there no other way,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To save thee from a cruel death,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At the hands o’ a fierce Murray?</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Marry his daughter, Willie dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And save thy mother’s life;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tho’ she be ugly—what of that?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She’ll make a frugal wife.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Mother, I will not take his terms.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who brought ye here?” he said.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Who, but your messenger so good,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That kind and sonsy maid.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They passed the time in grief and woe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Throughout the dead of night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor ever they ceased to weep wi’ him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Until the morning’s light.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The loud horn blew out o’er the lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Gideon stood him before;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What is thy choice, young man?” he cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Or ere this deed be o’er.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The gallows still before the wife,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Young Harden stoutly said.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And wi’ the hemp around my throat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll spit on the ground ye tread.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They led him forth to the gallows-tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When he saw that maiden there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who at her risk, unto his mother</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Carried his last letter;</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The thoughts o’ the gallows could not stir</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The heart o’ that dauntless Chief,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the weeping look of that young girl,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It pierced his soul wi’ grief.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And while the tear hung in her eye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He took her lily hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And said, “Thy heart is far too meek,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For such a ruffian band.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Hear me, Murray, speak my mind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I care not for thy word,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d rather marry this poor maiden,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If should my life be spared,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Then ever I’d wed thy daughter Meg.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Gideon clapped his hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“A bargain! I take thee at thy word,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Young Scott where dost thou stand.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They buckled them in holy bonds,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The priest he prayed the while;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when the marriage knot was tied,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Gideon blithe did smile.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His mother fell upon his neck,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“God bless my bairn, he’s free!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bless the bonny lassie yet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who brought the word to me!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I give thee a father’s blessing, sir,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Murray blithely cried;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“For what?”—The lassie modest said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Meikle-Mouthed Meg’s your bride.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! then sore shame fell on the Scott,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tears came in his eyes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And is my bride the scorned Meg,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That I did so despise?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Let no man hate what he’s not seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The shame on me doth lay:—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I rose this morning for my death,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And it ends in my bridal day!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right">(<em>Englished. Condensed</em>)</p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="BELTED_WILL"></a>BELTED WILL</h3> -</div> - -<h4>THE ROBBER BARON</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> Baron of Thirlwall came from the wars,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Laden with treasure bold;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Among the which a fair table,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All of the beaten gold.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And men will speak of the Baron’s wealth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whatever he may say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And how a grizzly Dwarf does guard</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His treasure night and day.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Many a Border freebooter</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Eyed Thirlwall’s good Castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thinking to win the bags of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And eke the fair table.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But the Baron hath retainers bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And swatchers many ane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Castle walls are high to win,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Howe’er they fidge and fain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The boldest one o’ a’ his men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was Jockey of the Sheugh;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Baron loved him like a brother,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And that was fair enoo.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Jock could wrestle, run, or leap,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ ever a living man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Never a wight in Cumbernauld</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Could beat him at the span.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But Thirlwall’s Baron heeded not</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The word o’ Belted Will,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who dwells within the dark Naworth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Border March to still;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He can rule all the Border round,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ a peeled willow-wand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Thirlwall’s Baron gecks at him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all the laws o’ the land.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So fast come tidings of ravin wrong</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Belted Willy’s ear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quo’ he, “By my belt, I’ll trap this man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If I catch him in effeir.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But he is like a wily fox,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That taketh to his hole,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An I can catch him on the turn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll smoke him from his bole.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He reaves and harrows every one,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tho’ he has goups o’ gold;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll lay a trap for him bedeen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By which he shall be sold.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thirlwall’s Baron heard his speech,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ scorn almost he burst;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“His anger it is like a haggis,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That’s hottest at the first.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sore smiled the wily Belted Will,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But in so dark a way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Better that smile were wanting there,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than on his lip to lay.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE TRAP O’ BELTED WILL</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Jock</span> o’ the Sheugh tirled at the string,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of the Baron of Thirlwall’s yett;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Up, up, and rise, my noble Lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Some plunder for to get.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There are a swatch o’ Englishers</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Coming from Carlysle town,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Well laden wi’ the yellow gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">For Annan are they boun’.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go, take a dozen o’ my men,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And brattle o’er the lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lay wait, and watch until they pass</div> - <div class="verse indent1">The Bowness Witches’ Tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A dozen o’ ye well may lick</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Three score o’ English tikes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Take all they have, and leave them so</div> - <div class="verse indent1">To tell o’ this who likes.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Jock banged o’er the broomy knoll,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">And reached the Witches’ Tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wi’ his dozen freebooters,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Lay down on their bellie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There came on twenty Englishers,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Wi’ cloaks and saddlebags;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There came on twenty travellers,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">Mounted on goodly nags.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Came on those twenty travellers,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">With long cloaks flowing down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Came on these twenty travellers,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">All thro’ the yellow broom.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then started up Jock and his men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ such an awful yell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye might have heard it at the top</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of Skiddaw or Criffell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come off your nags, ye sorning crew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of Southron pock-puddings,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or ye shall have the good cold steel,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So give us all your things!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We’ll give ye that,” said one o’ them,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Ye’ll no forget, I wiss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This many a day, good Jock o’ the Sheugh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And that my billie’s this!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They threw the cloaks from off their hides,</div> - <div class="verse indent3">And back and breastplate shone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They grippit their swords, the first blow struck</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was echoed with a groan.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Good faith! but Jock had found his match,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For the Southrons hacked about;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Thirlwall boys were fain to fight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But soon put to the route.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Of twelve o’ Jock’s good freebooters,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But three fled o’er the lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The other nine lay still enough</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beside the Witches’ Tree.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Poor Jock is down upon his back,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ a fair clour on the head;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His billies all are stiffening,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And three o’ them are fled.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Out spoke the twenty travellers,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Why, Jock, how’s this of a’,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye bid us to a meal, good faith,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And then ye run awa’?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Quo’ Jock, as they bound fast his arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And raised him from the lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“If I had kenned ye were Belted Will’s men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Devil might stopped ye for me!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE GRIZZLY DWARF</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> Baron o’ Thirlwall looked abroad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From out his strong Castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he saw three men come posting on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out o’er the fern and fell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I wad,” said he, “they run a race,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A thousand merks I lay</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the wight in the red jerkin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He wins the race this day.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The three men burst in on his room,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“My Lord,” then each one said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Jock o’ the Sheugh is wounded fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And nine good fellows dead.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The dark spot flew to the Baron’s cheek,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Ye cowards, one and all!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Go, join your bloody billies then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whatever may befall!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He struck each man the neck intil,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they fell on the floor;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“To fly without a single blow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shows valour to be poor!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If Belted Will should harm a hair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’ Jock o’ the Sheugh his head,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll put the Border in such a blaze,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall make him flee with dread.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If Jock o’ the Sheugh hangs for this play,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The whole of the March shall weep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No man shall waken in the morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That goes alive to sleep.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They brought these words to Belted Will</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As at racket-ball he played;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the only answer he let fall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“We’ll soon see that,” he said.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r20a" /> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">By Brampton’s town there stands an oak,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon a hill so high;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Jock was broughten there betimes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon the tree to die.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They strapped him to the highest branch</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of all that goodly tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there the righteous chaplain prayed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For Jock’s soul solemnlie,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thirlwall’s Baron saw the sight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And swore revenge to have;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For better part o’ a summer’s day</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He nothing did but rave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He sent a messenger so bold</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Will, who cried in scorn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Better he looks unto his nest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll burn it ere the morn!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Baron fled to his Castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And guarded it so grim,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The fiend take Belted Will,” he cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“’Tis word and blow wi’ him.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But scarcely had the midnight fell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When spite o’ a’ his care,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Belted Will his Castle stormed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For a’ he fought so fair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A tar barrel and reeking peat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They laid unto his nest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Threw open gates and wide windows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the night wind did the rest.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Baron fled from room to room,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By the flames of his own hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“He’s gi’en me light to go to bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whatever may befall.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He rushed into his inner room,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where his golden table lay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Devil in likeness o’ a Dwarf</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Kept watch there night and day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Belted Will pursued him hard,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Amid the flame and stour,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For he cut the skirt from the Baron’s cloak,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As he whisked through the door.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Save me, now, thou gruesome Elf,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And my soul and body’s thine!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Dwarf he jabbered hideously,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But never made a sign.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Belted Will called for a ram,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To bash the doorway down;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The red flames thro’ the keyhole flashed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And filled wi’ reek the room.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My soul and body,” the Baron said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Abjuring Christ His sign;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Devil he grippit him in his arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Now, Baron, art thou mine.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The door ga’ed splintering from the posts,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In rushed the enemy;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Baron, Dwarf, and gold table,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I wat they could ne’er see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And legends say the ugsome Dwarf</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Threw all into a well,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And by the glamour o’ his art</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cast over all a spell;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Which never may be rendered vain</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But by a Widow’s Son;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he shall find the gold table,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When years away have run.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Frederick Sheldon. (Condensed)</em></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="BRAVE_HEARTS_AND_PROUD">BRAVE HEARTS AND PROUD</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>EARL HALDAN’S DAUGHTER</h3> -</div> - -<p class="pfs80"><span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 1400</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>It was Earl Haldan’s daughter,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>She looked across the sea;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>She looked across the water,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And long and loud laughed she:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>“The locks of six Princesses</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Must be my marriage-fee,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>So hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat!</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Who comes a-wooing me!”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>It was Earl Haldan’s daughter,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>She walked along the sand;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>When she was aware of a Knight so fair,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Come sailing to the land.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>His sails were all of velvet,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>His mast of beaten gold,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And “hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Who saileth here so bold?”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>“The locks of five Princesses</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>I won beyond the sea;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>I shore their golden tresses,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>To fringe a cloak for thee.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>One handful yet is wanting,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>But one of all the tale;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>So hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat!</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Furl up thy velvet sail!”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>He leapt into the water,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>That rover young and bold;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>He gript Earl Haldan’s daughter,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>He shore her locks of gold;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>“Go weep, go weep, proud Maiden,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>The tale is full to-day.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Now hey bonny boat, and ho bonny boat!</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Sail Westward ho, and away!”</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Charles Kingsley</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>LADY CLARE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">It</span> was the time when lilies blow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And clouds are highest up in air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lord Ronald brought a lily-white doe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To give his cousin, Lady Clare.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I trow they did not part in scorn;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lovers long-betrothed were they;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They two will wed the morrow morn—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">God’s blessing on the day!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He does not love me for my birth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor for my lands so broad and fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He loves me for my own true worth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And that is well,” said Lady Clare.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In there came old Alice the nurse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said, “Who was this that went from thee?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“It was my cousin,” said Lady Clare;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“To-morrow he weds with me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O God be thanked!” said Alice the nurse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That all comes round so just and fair!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lord Ronald is heir of all your lands,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And you are <em>not</em> the Lady Clare.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Are ye out of your mind, my Nurse, my Nurse,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said Lady Clare, “that ye speak so wild?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“As God’s above,” said Alice the nurse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I speak the truth: you are my child.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The old Earl’s daughter died at my breast;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I speak the truth, as I live by bread!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I buried her like my own sweet child,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And put my child in her stead.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Falsely, falsely have ye done,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O Mother,” she said, “if this be true,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To keep the best man under the sun</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So many years from his due.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Nay now, my Child,” said Alice the nurse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“But keep the secret for your life,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all you have will be Lord Ronald’s</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When you are man and wife.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If I’m a beggar born,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I will speak out, for I dare not lie.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pull off, pull off, the brooch of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And fling the diamond necklace by.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Nay now, my Child,” said Alice the nurse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“But keep the secret all ye can.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She said, “Not so; but I will know</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If there be any faith in man.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Nay now, what faith?” said Alice the nurse;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“The man will cleave unto his right.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And he shall have it,” the lady replied,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Tho’ I should die to-night.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yet give one kiss to your mother dear!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Alas, my Child, I sinned for thee!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Mother, Mother, Mother,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“So strange it seems to me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yet here’s a kiss for my mother dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My mother dear, if this be so,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lay your hand upon my head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bless me, Mother, ere I go.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She clad herself in a russet gown,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She was no longer Lady Clare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She went by dale, and she went by down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a single rose in her hair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The lily-white doe Lord Ronald had brought</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Leapt up from where she lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dropt her head in the maiden’s hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And followed her all the way.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Down stept Lord Ronald from his tower:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“O Lady Clare, you shame your worth!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why come you drest like a village maid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That are the flower of the earth?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If I come drest like a village maid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I am but as my fortunes are;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am a beggar born,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And not the Lady Clare.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Play me no tricks,” said Lord Ronald,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For I am yours in word and in deed.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Play me no tricks,” said Lord Ronald,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Your riddle is hard to read.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh, and proudly stood she up!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her heart within her did not fail;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She looked into Lord Ronald’s eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And told him all her nurse’s tale.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He laughed a laugh of merry scorn;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He turned, and kissed her where she stood;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“If you are not the heiress born,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I,” said he, “the next in blood,—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If you are not the heiress born,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I,” said he, “the lawful heir,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We two will wed to-morrow morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And you shall still be Lady Clare.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="PROUD_LADY_MARGARET"></a>PROUD LADY MARGARET</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Fair Margret</span> was a young ladye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An come of high degree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Margret was a young ladye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An proud as proud could be.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Margret was a rich ladye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The king’s cousin was she;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Margaret was a rich ladye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An vain as vain <ins class="corr" id="tn62" title="Transcriber’s Note—“coud” changed to “could”.">could</ins> be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She war’d her wealth on the gay cleedin</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That comes frae yont the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She spent her time frae morning till night</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Adorning her fair bodye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ae night she sate in her stately ha,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Kaimin her yellow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When in there cum like a gentle knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An a white scarf he did wear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O what’s your will wi me, sir knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O what’s your will wi me?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You’re the likest to my ae brother</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever I did see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“You’re the likest to my ae brother</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever I hae seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But he’s buried in Dunfermline kirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A month an mair bygane.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m the likest to your ae brother</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever ye did see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But I canna get rest into my grave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A’ for the pride of thee.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Leave pride, Margret, leave pride, Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Leave pride an vanity;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ere ye see the sights that I hae seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sair altered ye maun be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O ye come in at the kirk-door</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi the gowd plaits in your hair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But wud ye see what I hae seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye maun them a’ forbear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O ye come in at the kirk-door</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi the gowd prins i your sleeve;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But wad ye see what I hae seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye maun gie them a’ their leave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Leave pride, Margret, leave pride, Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Leave pride an vanity;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ere ye see the sights that I hae seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sair altered ye maun be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He got her in her stately ha,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Kaimin her yellow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He left her on her sick sick bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sheding the saut saut tear.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE FAMOUS FLOWER OF SERVING-MEN</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">You</span> beautious ladies, great and small,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I write unto you one and all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whereby that you may understand</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What I have suffered in this land.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I was by birth a lady fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My father’s chief and onely heir,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But when my good old father dy’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then was I made a young knight’s bride.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And then my love built me a bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bedeckt with many a fragrant flower;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A braver bower you never did see</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then my true-love did build for me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But there came thieves late in the night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They rob’d my bower, and slew my knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And after that my knight was slain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I could no longer there remain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">My servants all from me did flye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the midst of my extremity,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And left me by my self alone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a heart more cold then any stone.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet, though my heart was full of care,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Heaven would not suffer me to despair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wherefore in hast I chang’d my name</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From Fair Elise to Sweet William.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And therewithal I cut my hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And drest my self in man’s attire,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My doublet, hose, and bever-hat,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a golden band about my neck.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With a silver rapier by my side,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So like a gallant I did ride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The thing that I delighted on,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was for to be a serving-man.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus in my sumptuous man’s array</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I bravely rode along the way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And at the last it chanced so</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That I unto the king’s court did go.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then to the king I bowed full low,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My love and duty for to show,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And so much favour I did crave</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That I a serving-man’s place might have.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Stand up, brave youth,” the king replyd,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thy service shall not be denyd;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But tell me first what thou canst do;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou shalt be fitted thereunto.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Wilt thou be usher of my hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To wait upon my nobles all?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or wilt thou be taster of my wine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To wait on me when I shall dine?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Or wilt thou be my chamberlain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To make my bed both soft and fine?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or wilt thou be one of my guard?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I will give thee thy reward.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweet William, with a smiling face,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Said to the king, “If’t please your grace</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To show such favour unto me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your chamberlain I fain would be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The king then did the nobles call,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To ask the counsel of them all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who gave consent Sweet William he</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The king’s own chamberlain should be.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Now</span> mark what strange things came to pass:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the king one day a hunting was,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With all his lords and noble train,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweet William did at home remain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweet William had no company then</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With him at home but an old man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when he saw the coast was clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He took a lute which he had there.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon the lute Sweet William plaid,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And to the same he sung and said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a pleasant and most noble voice,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which made the old man to rejoyce:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My father was as brave a lord</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>As ever Europe did afford;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My mother was a lady bright,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My husband was a valiant knight.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And I my self a lady gay,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Bedeckt with gorgeous rich array;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The bravest lady in the land</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Had not more pleasures to command.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I had my musick every day,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Harmonious lessons for to play;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I had my virgins fair and free,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Continually to wait on me.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But now, alas! my husband’s dead,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And all my friends are from me fled;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My former joys are past and gone,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>For now I am a serving-man.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At last the king from hunting came,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And presently upon the same</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He called for the good old man,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thus to speak the king began.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What news, what news, old man?” quod he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What news hast thou to tell to me?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Brave news,” the old man he did say;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sweet William is a lady gay.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If this be true thou tellest me</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I ’le make thee a lord of high degree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But if thy words do prove a lye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou shalt be hanged up presently.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But when the king the truth had found,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His joys did more and more abound;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">According as the old man did say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweet William was a lady gay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Therefore the king without delay</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Put on her glorious rich array,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And upon her head a crown of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which was most famous to behold.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And then, for fear of further strife,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He took Sweet William for his wife;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The like before was never seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A serving-man to be a queen.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>COCHRANE’S BONNY GRIZZY</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Listen</span>, now, both great and simple,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whilst I croon to you my song,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ere such another damsel ’pears,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The world will cease to wag ere long:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For she is the flower o’er all the bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My blessings on Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her father lay long in the Embro jail,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wearing fast to his end,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For his head must be swept clean from his shoulders,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the warrant the King shall send;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Singing “Woes me!” wi’ the tear in her e’e,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Did Cochrane’s bonny daughter mourn</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She kissed her father’s lyart locks,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unkempt for many a day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she said, “To save my father’s life,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I aiblins ken a way:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Give me thy love, that I fortune prove?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Quo’ Cochrane’s bonny daughter!</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She rode away thro’ the stragglling town,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of beggart Hadingtown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Syne by Dunbar, thro’ Coppersmith,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till to Berwick she has come:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she rapped right loud on the barred gates,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Did Cochrane’s bonny daughter</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She slept all night and she rose betimes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And crossed the long bridge of the Tweed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And over the moor at Tweedmouth brae,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sore draggit was her woman’s weed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lightin’ down by Haggerston Shaws,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Did Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A cloak she drew from her saddlebag,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With trunks and a doublet fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She cut off with a folding knife,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her long and raven hair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she dressed herself in laddie’s clothes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Did Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The horseman rode into Belford town,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who carried the London mail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bold Grizzy she sought the hostel out,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And there with a couthy tale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Forgathered with the London Post,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Did Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She roared the loudest of them a’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Quo’ the fellow, “My canty chiel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deil blaw my pipes! yere the crack o’ the wa’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the best amang the hail!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the dead of night did they go to their beds,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And so did Cochrane’s daughter</em>!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She rose over the bed ere the second cock,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Went jimply along the floor;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s stown her father’s death warrant,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whilst the lubber loud did snore.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s gained the hills ere the hue and cry</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>They raised on Cochrane’s daughter</em>!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">But</span> the King can write another brief,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For all the first be stown;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And once again the fellow rode,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With the warrant from London town.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now out and alas! What can she do?</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>For the heart of Grizzy sank!</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The red sun went down o’er the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the wind blew stiff and snell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And as it shot by Grizzy’s lugs,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It sounded old Cochrane’s knell.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“But downa despair, ’tis a kittle carle!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Said Cochrane’s Bonny daughter!</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The larch and the tall fir shrieked with pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As they bent before the wind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And down there fell the heavy rain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till sense and eyes were blind;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“A lang night ’tis ne’er sees a day,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Quo’ Cochrane’s undaunted Grizzy</em>!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Warlocks are dancing threesome reels,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On Goswick’s haunted links,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The red fire shoots by Ladythorne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And Tam wi’ the Lanthorne falls and sinks.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On Kyloe’s hills there’s awful sounds,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But they frighted not Cochrane’s Grizzy</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The moon beams shot from the troubled sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In glints of flickering light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The horseman came skelping thro’ the mire,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For his mind was in affright:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His pistol cocked he held in his hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But the sient a fear had Grizzy</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As he came fornents the Fenwicke woods,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From the whin-bushes shot out a flame;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His dappled filly reared up in affright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And backward over he came;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s a hand on his craig, and a foot on his mouth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>’Twas Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I will not take thy life,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“But give me thy London news;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No blood of thine shall syle my blad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gin me ye dinna refuse:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s prie’d the warrant, and away she flew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>With the speed and strength of the wild curlew</em>!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Love will make a foe grow kind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Love will bring blossom where bud is naught.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Love hath softened a kingly mind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Grizzy hath mercy to councillors taught.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her friends at Court have prieven the life</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>O’ Grizzy’s banished father</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s wedded unto a German Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her bairnies blithe with her sire remain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s cast the laddie’s clouts away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And her raven hair is growing again.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What think ye, gentles o’ every degree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Of Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</em>?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>(Englished)</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_GREETING_OF_KYNAST"></a>THE GREETING OF KYNAST</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">She</span> said, “This narrow chamber is not for me the place,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said the Lady Kunigunde of Kynast!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“’Tis pleasanter on horseback, I’ll hie me to the chase,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said the Lady Kunigunde!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She said, “The Knight who weds me, I do require of him,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said the Lady Kunigunde of Kynast!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“To gallop round the Kynast and break not neck nor limb.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A noble Knight came forward and galloped round the wall;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The lady without lifting a finger saw him fall.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And yet another galloped around the battlement;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The lady saw him tumble, yet did she not relent.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And rider after rider spurred round his snorting horse;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saw him vanish o’er the rampart, and never felt remorse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Long time the folly lasted, then came no rider more;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They would not ride to win her, the trial was too sore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She stood upon her towers, she looked upon the land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m all alone at home here, will no one seek my hand?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Is there none will ride to win me, to win me for his bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh fie! the paltry rider who dreads the bridal ride!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then out and spake from Thüringen the Landgrave Adelbert,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Well may the haughty damsel her worthiness assert.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He trains his horse to gallop on narrow walls of stone;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The lady shall not see us break neck or limb or bone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“See here, O noble Lady, I’m he that dares the ride!”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She looks in thoughtful silence, to see him sit in pride.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She saw him now make ready, then trembled she and sighed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Woe’s me that I so fearful have made the bridal ride!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then rode he round the Kynast; her face she turned away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Woe’s me, the Knight is riding down to his grave to-day!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He rides around the Kynast, right round the narrow wall;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She cannot stir for terror her lily hand at all.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He rides around the Kynast, dear round the battlement;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As if a breath might kill him, she held her breath suspent.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He rode around the Kynast and straight to her rode he;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said the Lady Kunigunde of Kynast:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thanks be to God in Heaven, who gave thy life to thee!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thanks be to God that into thy grave thou didst not ride!”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said the Lady Kunigunde:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come down from off thy horse now, O Knight, unto thy bride!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then spake the noble rider, and greeted, as he sate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, trust a Knight for horsemanship! well have I taught thee that.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now wait till comes another who can the same thing do,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O Lady Kunigunde of Kynast!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ve wife and child already, can be no spouse for you!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He gave his steed the spur, now; rode back the way he came;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The lady saw him vanish, she swooned with scorn and shame.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And she remains a virgin, her pride had such a fall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Changed to a wooden image she stands in sight of all.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An image, like a hedgehog, with spines for hair, is now</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde of Kynast!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stranger has to kiss it, who climbs the Kynast’s brow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We bring it him to kiss it; and if it shocks his pride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde Kynast!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He must pay down his forfeit, who will not kiss the bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady Kunigunde!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Charles T. Brooks, from Rückert</em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="LAYS_O_FAERIE">LAYS O’ FAËRIE</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE FAIRY TEMPTER</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>A fair girl was sitting in the greenwood shade,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>List’ning to the music the spring birds made;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>When sweeter by far than the birds on the tree,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>A voice murmured near her, “Oh! come, Love, with me—</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>In earth or air,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>A thing so fair</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>I have not seen as thee!</em></div> - <div class="verse indent10"><em>Then come, Love, with me.”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“With a star for thy home, in a palace of light,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Thou will add a fresh grace to the beauty of night;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Or, if wealth be thy wish, thine are treasures untold,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I will show thee the birthplace of jewels and gold gold—</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>And pearly caves</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>Beneath the waves,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>All these, all these are thine,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent10"><em>If thou will be mine.”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Thus whispered a Fairy to tempt the fair girl,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But vain was his promise of gold and of pearl;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>For she said, “Tho’ thy gifts to a poor girl were dear,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My father, my mother, my sisters are here:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>Oh! what would be</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>Thy gifts to me</em></div> - <div class="verse indent12"><em>Of earth, and sea, and air,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent10"><em>If my heart were not there?”</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Samuel Lover</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>ALICE BRAND</h3> -</div> - -<h4>I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Merry</span> it is in the good Greenwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the mavis and merle are singing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the hunter’s horn is ringing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Alice Brand, my native land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is lost for love of you;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And we must hold by wood and wold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As outlaws wont to do.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Alice, ’t was all for thy locks so bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ’t was all for thine eyes so blue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That on the night of our luckless flight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy brother bold I slew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now must I teach to hew the beech,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The hand that held the glaive,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For leaves to spread our lowly bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And stakes to fence our cave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And for vest of pall, thy fingers small,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That wont on harp to stray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A cloak must sheer from the slaughtered deer,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To keep the cold away.”—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Richard! if my brother died,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’T was but a fatal chance;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For darkling was the battle tried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And fortune sped the lance.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If pall and vair no more I wear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor thou the crimson sheen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As warm, we’ll say, is the russet grey,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As gay the forest green.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And, Richard, if our lot be hard,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And lost thy native land,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still Alice has her own Richard,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he his Alice Brand.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">’Tis</span> merry, ’tis merry, in good Greenwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So blithe Lady Alice is singing;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the beech’s pride, and oak’s brown side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lord Richard’s axe is ringing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Up spoke the moody Elfin King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who woned within the hill,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like wind in the porch of a ruined church,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His voice was ghostly shrill.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our moonlight circle’s screen?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or who comes here to chase the deer,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beloved of our Elfin Queen?<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or who may dare on wold to wear</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Fairies’ fatal green?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For thou wert christened man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For cross or sign thou wilt not fly,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For muttered word or ban.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Lay on him the curse of the withered heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The curse of the sleepless eye;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till he wish and pray that his life would part,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor yet find leave to die.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">’Tis</span> merry, ’tis merry, in good Greenwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Though the birds have stilled their singing;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The evening blaze doth Alice raise,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And Richard is fagots bringing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Up Urgan starts, that hideous Dwarf,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before Lord Richard stands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, as he crossed and blessed himself,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I fear not sign,” quoth the grisly Elf,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That is made with bloody hands.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But out then spoke she, Alice Brand</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That woman void of fear,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And if there’s blood upon his hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis but the blood of deer.”—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It cleaves unto his hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stain of thine own kindly blood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The blood of Ethert Brand.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And made the holy sign:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And if there’s blood on Richard’s hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A spotless hand is mine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And I conjure thee, Demon Elf,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By Him whom Demons fear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To show us whence thou art thyself,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And what thine errand here?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“’Tis merry, ’tis merry, in Fairyland,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When Fairy Birds are singing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the Court doth ride by their Monarch’s side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With bit and bridle ringing:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And gaily shines the Fairyland—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But all is glistening show,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like the idle gleam that December’s beam</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Can dart on ice and snow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And fading, like that varied gleam,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is our inconstant shape,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who now like Knight and Lady seem,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And now like Dwarf and Ape.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="i084f" style="max-width: 47.0625em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_084f.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">“I FEAR NOT SIGN,” QUOTH THE GRISLY ELF,<br /> -“THAT IS MADE WITH BLOODY HANDS”</div> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span>“It was between the night and day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the Fairy King has power,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That I sunk down in a sinful fray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ’twixt life and death, was snatched away</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the joyless Elfin Bower.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But wist I of a woman bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who thrice my brow durst sign,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I might regain my mortal mould,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fair a form as thine.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She crossed him once, she crossed him twice—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That Lady was so brave;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fouler grew his goblin hue,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The darker grew the cave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She crossed him thrice, that Lady bold;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He rose beneath her hand</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fairest Knight on Scottish mould</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her brother, Ethert Brand!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Merry it is in good Greenwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the mavis and merle are singing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But merrier were they in Dunfermline grey,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When all the bells were ringing.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Sir Walter Scott</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE ERL-KING</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Oh!</span> who rides by night thro’ the woodland so wild?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It is the fond father embracing his child;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And close the boy nestles within his loved arm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To hold himself fast and to keep himself warm.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Father, see yonder! see yonder!” he says:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“My boy, upon what dost thou fearfully gaze?”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! ’tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud,”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“No, my Son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE ERL-KING SPEAKS</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Oh! come and go with me, thou loveliest child;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My mother keeps for thee full many a fair toy,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy.</em>”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Father, my Father! and did you not hear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Be still, my heart’s darling—my child, be at ease;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It was but the wild blast as it sung thro’ the trees.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE ERL-KING SPEAKS AGAIN</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Oh! wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;</em><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>She shall bear thee so lightly thro’ wet and thro’ wild,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And press thee and kiss thee and sing to my child.</em>”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Father, my Father, and saw you not plain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Erl-King’s pale daughter glide past thro’ the rain?”——</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It was the grey willow that danced to the moon.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>THE ERL-KING SPEAKS AGAIN</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Oh! come and go with me, no longer delay,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away.</em>”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Father! O Father! now, now keep your hold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Erl-King has seized me—his grasp is so cold!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sore trembled the father; he spurred thro’ the wild,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But, clasped to his bosom, the infant was <em>dead</em>!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Sir Walter Scott, from Goethe</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_FAIRY_THORN"></a>THE FAIRY THORN</h3> -</div> - -<p class="pfs80">AN ULSTER BALLAD</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“<span class="smcap">Get</span> up, our Anna dear, from the weary spinning-wheel;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For your father’s on the hill, and your mother is asleep:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come up above the crags, and we’ll dance a highland reel</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Around the Fairy Thorn on the steep.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At Anna Grace’s door’t was thus the maidens cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Three merry maidens fair in kirtles of the green;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Anna laid the rock and the weary wheel aside,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fairest of the four, I ween.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They’re glancing thro’ the glimmer of the quiet eve,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Away in milky wavings of neck and ankle bare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The heavy-sliding stream in its sleepy song they leave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the crags in the ghostly air:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And linking hand in hand, and singing as they go,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The maids along the hill-side have ta’en their fearless way</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till they come to where the Rowan Trees in lonely beauty grow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beside the Fairy Hawthorn grey.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Hawthorn stands between the ashes tall and slim,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like matron with her twin grand-daughters at her knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Rowan berries cluster o’er her low head grey and dim,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In ruddy kisses sweet to see.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The merry maidens four have ranged them in a row,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Between each lovely couple a stately Rowan stem,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And away in mazes wavy like skimming birds they go,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh, never carolled bird like them!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But solemn is the silence of the silvery haze</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That drinks away their voices in echoless repose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And dreamily the evening has stilled the haunted braes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And dreamier the gloaming grows.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And sinking one by one, like lark-notes from the sky</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the falcon’s shadow saileth across the open shaw,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are hushed the maidens’ voices as cowering down they lie</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the flutter of their sudden awe.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For, from the air above, and the grassy ground beneath</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And from the Mountain Ashes and the old Whitethorn between,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A power of faint Enchantment doth through their beings breathe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they sink down together on the green.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They sink together silent, and stealing side to side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They fling their lovely arms o’er their drooping necks so fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then vainly strive again their naked arms to hide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For their shrinking necks again are bare.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus clasped and prostrate all, with their heads together bowed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Soft o’er their bosoms beating—the only human sound—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They hear the silky footsteps of the silent Fairy crowd,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like a river in the air, gliding round.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor scream can any raise, nor prayer can any say,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But wild, wild the terror of the speechless three—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For they feel fair Anna Grace drawn silently away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By whom they dare not look to see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They feel her tresses twine with their parting locks of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the curls elastic falling, as her head withdraws;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They feel her sliding arms from their tranced arms unfold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But they dare not look to see the cause:</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For heavy on their senses the faint Enchantment lies;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through all that night of anguish and perilous amaze;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And neither fear nor wonder can ope their quivering eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or their limbs from the cold ground raise.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Till out of Night the Earth has rolled her dewy side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With every haunted mountain and streamy vale below;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When, as the mist dissolves in the yellow morning tide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The maidens’ trance dissolveth so.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then fly the ghastly three as swiftly as they may,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tell their tale of sorrow to anxious friends in vain——</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They pined away and died within the year and day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ne’er was Anna Grace seen again.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Samuel Ferguson</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="LA_BELLE_DAME_SANS_MERCI"></a>LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Ah</span>, what can ail thee, wretched wight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Alone and palely loitering?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sedge is withered from the lake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And no birds sing.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So haggard and so woe-begone?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The squirrel’s granary is full,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the harvest’s done.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I see a lily on thy brow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With anguish moist and fever dew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And on thy cheek a fading rose</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fast withereth too.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I met a lady in the meads,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Full beautiful—a Faery’s child;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her hair was long, her foot was light,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And her eyes were wild.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I set her on my pacing steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And nothing else saw all day long;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For sideways would she lean, and sing</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A Faery’s song.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I made a garland for her head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She looked at me as she did love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And made sweet moan.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“She found me roots of relish sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And honey wild, and manna dew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sure in language strange she said,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">‘I love thee true.’</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“She took me to her Elfin grot,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And there she gazed and sighed deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there I shut her wild sad eyes eyes—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So kissed to sleep.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And there we slumbered on the moss,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And there I dreamed—Ah, woe betide!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The latest dream I ever dreamed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the cold hill-side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I saw pale Kings and Princes too,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who cried, ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hath thee in thrall!’</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I saw their starved lips in the gloom</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With horrid warning gaped wide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I awoke, and found me here</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the cold hill-side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And this is why I sojourn here,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Alone and palely loitering,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though the sedge is withered from the lake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And no birds sing.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>John Keats</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THOMAS_THE_RHYMER"></a>THOMAS THE RHYMER</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">True Thomas</span> lay on Huntlie bank;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A ferlie he spied wi his e’e;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there he saw a lady bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her shirt was o the grass-green silk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her mantle o the velvet fyne;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At ilka tett of her horse’s mane,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hang fifty siller bells and nine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">True Thomas he pull’d aff his cap,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And louted low down to his knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“All hail, thou mighty Queen of Heaven!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For thy peer on earth I never did see.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O no, O no, Thomas,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That name does not belang to me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am but the Queen of fair elfland,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That am hither come to visit thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Harp and carp, Thomas,” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Harp and carp along wi me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And if ye dare to kiss my lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sure of your bodie I will be.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Betide me weal, betide me woe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That weird shall never daunton me.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Syne he has kissed her rosy lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All underneath the Eildon Tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, ye maun go wi me,” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“True Thomas, ye maun go wi me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ye maun serve me seven years,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thro weal or woe as may chance to be.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She mounted on her milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She’s ta’en True Thomas up behind:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye, whene’er her bridle rung,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The steed flew swifter than the wind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O they rade on, and farther on,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The steed gaed swifter than the wind:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until they reached a desart wide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And living land was left behind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Light down, light down, now, True Thomas,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And lean your head upon my knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Abide and rest a little space,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I will show you ferlies three.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O see ye not yon narrow road,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So thick beset with thorns and briers?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That is the path of righteousness.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tho after it but few enquires.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And see not ye that braid, braid road,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That lies across the lily leven?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That is the path of wickedness,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tho some call it the road to heaven.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And see not ye that bonny road,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That winds about the fernie brae?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That is the road to fair Elfland,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where you and I this night maun gae.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But, Thomas, ye maun hold your tongue,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whatever ye may hear or see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For if you speak word in Elfyn land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye’ll ne’er get back to your ain countrie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O they rade on, and farther on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they waded thro rivers aboon the knee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they saw neither sun nor moon,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But they heard the roaring of the sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It was mirk, mirk night, and there was nae stern-light,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And they waded thro red blude to the knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For a’ the blude that’s shed on earth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Rins thro the springs o that countrie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Syne they came on to a garden green,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And she pu’d an apple frae a tree:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Take this for thy wages, True Thomas;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It will give the tongue that can never lie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My tongue is mine ain,” True Thomas said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“A gudely gift ye wad gie to me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I neither dought to buy nor sell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At fair or tryst where I may be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I dought neither speak to prince or peer,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor ask of grace from fair ladye.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now hold thy peace!” the lady said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For as I say so must it be.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He has gotten a coat of the even cloth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a pair of shoes of velvet green;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And till seven years were gane and past,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">True Thomas on earth was never seen.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_KELPIE_OF_CORRIEVRECKAN"></a>THE KELPIE OF CORRIEVRECKAN</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">He</span> mounted his steed of the water clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sat on his saddle of sea-weed sere;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He held his bridle of strings of pearl,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dug out of the depths where the sea-snakes curl.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He put on his vest of the whirlpool froth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Soft and dainty as velvet cloth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And donned his mantle of sand so white,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And grasped his sword of the coral bright.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And away he galloped, a horseman free,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Spurring his steed through the stormy sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Clearing the billows with bound and leap—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Away, away, o’er the foaming deep!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">By Scarba’s rock, by Lunga’s shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By Garveloch isles where the breakers roar,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With his horse’s hoofs he dashed the spray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And on to Loch Buy, away, away!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">On to Loch Buy all day he rode,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And reached the shore as sunset glowed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And stopped to hear the sounds of joy</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That rose from the hills and glens of Moy.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The morrow was May, and on the green</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They’d lit the fire of Beltan E’en,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And danced around, and piled it high</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With peat and heather and pine-logs dry.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A piper played a lightsome reel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And timed the dance with toe and heel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While wives looked on, as lad and lass</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Trod it merrily o’er the grass.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And Jessie (fickle and fair was she)</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sat with Evan beneath a tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And smiled with mingled love and pride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And half agreed to be his bride.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Kelpie galloped o’er the green—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He seemed a Knight of noble mien,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And old and young stood up to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wondered who the Knight could be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His flowing locks were auburn bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His cheeks were ruddy, his eyes flashed light;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And as he sprang from his good grey steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He looked a gallant youth indeed.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And Jessie’s fickle heart beat high,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As she caught the stranger’s glancing eye:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when he smiled, “Ah, well,” thought she,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I wish this Knight came courting me!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He took two steps towards her seat—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Wilt thou be mine, O Maiden sweet?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He took her lily-white hand, and sighed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Maiden, Maiden, be my bride!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And Jessie blushed, and whispered soft—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Meet me to-night when the moon’s aloft;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ve dreamed, fair Knight, long time of thee—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I thought thou earnest courting me.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">When</span> the moon her yellow horn displayed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alone to the trysting went the maid;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When all the stars were shining bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Alone to the trysting went the Knight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I have loved thee long, I have loved thee well,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Maiden, oh more than words can tell!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Maiden, thine eyes like diamonds shine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Maiden, Maiden, be thou mine!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Fair Sir, thy suit I’ll ne’er deny—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though poor my lot, my hopes are high;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I scorn a lover of low degree—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">None but a Knight shall marry me.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He took her by the hand so white,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And gave her a ring of the gold so bright;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Maiden, whose eyes like diamonds shine—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Maiden, Maiden, now thou’rt mine!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He lifted her up on his steed of grey,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they rode till morning away, away—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Over the mountain and over the moor,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And over the rocks, to the dark sea-shore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We have ridden East, we have ridden West—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’m weary, fair Knight, and I fain would rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Say, is thy dwelling beyond the sea?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hast thou a good ship waiting for me?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I have no dwelling beyond the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I have no good ship waiting for thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou shalt sleep with me on a couch of foam,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the depths of the ocean shall be thy home.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The grey steed plunged in the billows clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the maiden’s shrieks were sad to hear.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Maiden, whose eyes like diamonds shine—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Maiden, Maiden, now thou’rt mine!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Loud the cold sea-blast did blow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As they sank ’mid the angry waves below—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down to the rocks where the serpents creep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Twice five hundred fathoms deep.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At morn a fisherman, sailing by,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saw her pale corse floating high;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He knew the maid by her yellow hair</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her lily skin so soft and fair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Under a rock on Scarba’s shore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the wild winds sigh and the breakers roar,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They dug her a grave by the water clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Among the sea-weed salt and seer.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And every year at Beltan E’en,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Kelpie gallops across the green,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On a steed as fleet as the wintry wind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With Jessie’s mournful ghost behind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I warn you, maids, whoever you be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beware of pride and vanity;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ere on change of love you reckon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beware the Kelpie of Corrievreckan.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Charles Mackay</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="KILMENY"></a>KILMENY</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Bonny Kilmeny</span> gaed up the glen;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">But it wasna to meet Duneira’s men,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor the rosy monk of the isle to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It was only to hear the yorlin sing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And pu’ the cress-flower round the spring;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The scarlet hypp and the hindberrye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the nut that hang frae the hazel tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Kilmeny was pure as pure could be.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But lang may her minny look o’er the wa’,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lang may she seek i’ the green-wood shaw;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lang the laird of Duneira blame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lang, lang greet or Kilmeny come hame!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">When many a day had come and fled,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When grief grew calm, and hope was dead,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When mess for Kilmeny’s soul had been sung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the bedes-man had prayed, and the dead bell rung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Late, late in a gloamin when all was still,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the fringe was red on the westlin hill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The wood was sere, the moon i’ the wane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The reek o’ the cot hung over the plain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a little wee cloud in the world its lane;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the ingle lowed with a eiry leme,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Late, late in the gloamin Kilmeny came hame!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lang hae we sought baith holt and den;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By linn, by ford, and green-wood tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet you are halesome and fair to see.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where gat you that joup o’ the lily scheen?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That bonny snood of the birk sae green?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And these roses, the fairest that ever were seen?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kilmeny, Kilmeny, where have you been?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Kilmeny looked up with a lovely grace,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But nae smile was seen on Kilmeny’s face;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As still was her look, and as still was her e’e,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the stillness that lay on the emerant lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or the mist that sleeps on a waveless sea.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For Kilmeny had been she knew not where,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Kilmeny had seen what she could not declare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kilmeny had been where the cock never crew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the rain never fell, and the wind never blew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But it seemed as the harp of the sky had rung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the airs of heaven played round her tongue,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When she spake of the lovely forms she had seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a land where sin had never been;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A land of love, and a land of light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Withouten sun, or moon, or night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the river swa’d a living stream,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the light a pure celestial beam:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The land of vision it would seem,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A still, an everlasting dream.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">In yon green-wood there is a waik,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And in that waik there is a wene,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And in that wene there is a maik</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That neither has flesh, blood, nor bane;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And down in yon green-wood he walks his lane.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">In that green wene Kilmeny lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her bosom happed wi’ the flowerets gay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the air was soft and the silence deep,</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span></p> - <div class="verse indent0">And bonny Kilmeny fell sound asleep.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She kend nae mair, nor opened her e’e,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till waked by the hymns of a far countrye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">She ’wakened on a couch of the silk sae slim,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All striped wi’ the bars of the rainbow’s rim;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lovely beings round were rife,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who erst had travelled mortal life;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye they smiled, and ’gan to speer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What spirit has brought this mortal here!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“Lang have I journeyed the world wide,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A meek and reverend Fere replied;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Baith night and day I have watched the fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Eident a thousand years and mair.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yes, I have watched o’er ilk degree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wherever blooms femenitye;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But sinless virgin, free of stain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In mind and body, fand I nane.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Never, since the banquet of time,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Found I a virgin in her prime,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till late this bonny maiden I saw</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As spotless as the morning snaw:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Full twenty years she has lived as free</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As the spirits that sojourn in this countrye:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I have brought her away frae the snares of men,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That sin or death she never may ken.”—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">They clasped her waist and her hands sae fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They kissed her cheek, and they kemed her hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And round came many a blooming Fere,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saying, “Bonny Kilmeny, ye’re welcome here!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Women are freed of the littand scorn:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O, blessed be the day Kilmeny was born!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now shall the land of the spirits see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now shall it ken what a woman may be!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Many a lang year in sorrow and pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Many a lang year through the world we’ve gane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Commissioned to watch fair womankind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For it’s they who nurice the immortal mind.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We have watched their steps as the dawning shone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And deep in the green-wood walks alone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By lily bower and silken bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The viewless tears have o’er them shed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have soothed their ardent minds to sleep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or left the couch of love to weep.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We have seen! we have seen! but the time must come,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Angels will weep at the day of doom!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“O, would the fairest of mortal kind</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Aye keep the holy truths in mind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That kindred spirits their motions see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who watch their ways with anxious e’e,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And grieve for the guilt of humanitye!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O, sweet to Heaven the maiden’s prayer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the sigh that heaves a bosom sae fair!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">And dear to Heaven the words of truth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the praise of virtue frae beauty’s mouth!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And dear to the viewless forms of air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The minds that kythe as the body fair!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“O, bonny Kilmeny! free frae stain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If ever you seek the world again,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That world of sin, of sorrow, and fear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O, tell of the joys that are waiting here;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And tell of the signs you shall shortly see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the times that are now, and the times that shall be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">They lifted Kilmeny, they led her away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she walked in the light of a sunless day:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sky was a dome of crystal bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fountain of vision, and fountain of light:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The emerald fields were of dazzling glow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the flowers of everlasting blow.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then deep in the stream her body they laid,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That her youth and beauty never might fade;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they smiled on Heaven, when they saw her lie</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the stream of life that wandered bye.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she heard a song, she heard it sung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She kend not where; but sae sweetly it rung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It fell on her ear like a dream of the morn—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O, blest be the day Kilmeny was born!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now shall the land of the spirits see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now shall it ken what a woman may be!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The sun that shines on the world sae bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A borrowed gleid frae the fountain of light;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the moon that sleeks the sky sae dun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a gouden bow, or a beamless sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shall wear away, and be seen nae mair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Angels shall miss them travelling the air.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But lang, lang after baith night and day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the sun and the world have elyed away;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the sinner has gane to his waesome doom,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kilmeny shall smile in eternal bloom!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">They bore her away, she wist not how,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For she felt not arm nor rest below;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But so swift they wained her through the light,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’T was like the motion of sound or sight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They seemed to split the gales of air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And yet nor gale nor breeze was there.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Unnumbered groves below them grew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They came, they past, and backward flew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">like floods of blossoms gliding on,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In moment seen, in moment gone.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O, never vales to mortal view</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Appeared like those o’er which they flew!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That land to human spirits given,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The lowermost vales of the storied Heaven;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From thence they can view the world below,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Heaven’s blue gates with sapphires glow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">More glory yet unmeet to know.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">They bore her far to a mountain green,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To see what mortal never had seen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they seated her high on a purple sward,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bade her heed what she saw and heard,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And note the changes the spirits wrought,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For now she lived in the Land of Thought.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She looked, and she saw nor sun nor skies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But a crystal dome of a thousand dies:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She looked, and she saw nae land aright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But an endless whirl of glory and light:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And radiant beings went and came</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Far swifter than wind, or the linked flame.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She hid her e’en frae the dazzling view;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She looked again, and the scene was new.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">But to sing the sights Kilmeny saw,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So far surpassing nature’s law,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The singer’s voice wad sink away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the string of his harp wad cease to play.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But she saw till the sorrows of man were bye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all was love and harmony;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the stars of Heaven fell calmly away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like the flakes of snaw on a winter day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Then Kilmeny begged again to see</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The friends she had left in her own countrye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To tell of the place where she had been,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the glories that lay in the land unseen;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">To warn the living maidens fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The loved of Heaven, the spirits’ care,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That all whose minds unmeled remain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shall bloom in beauty when time is gane.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">With distant music, soft and deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They lulled Kilmeny sound asleep;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when she awakened, she lay her lane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All happed with flowers in the green-wood wene.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When seven lang years had come and fled;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When grief was calm, and hope was dead;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When scarce was remembered Kilmeny’s name,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Late, late in a gloamin Kilmeny came hame!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And O, her beauty was fair to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But still and steadfast was her e’e!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such beauty bard may never declare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For there was no pride nor passion there;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the soft desire of maiden’s e’en</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In that mild face could never be seen.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her seymar was the lily flower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her cheek the moss-rose in the shower;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her voice like the distant melodye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That floats along the twilight sea.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But she loved to raike the lanely glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And keeped afar frae the haunts of men;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her holy hymns unheard to sing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To suck the flowers, and drink the spring.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But wherever her peaceful form appeared,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The wild beasts of the hill were cheered;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The wolf played blythely round the field,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The lordly byson lowed and kneeled;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The dun deer wooed with manner bland,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And cowered aneath her lily hand.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when at even the woodlands rung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When hymns of other worlds she sung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In ecstasy of sweet devotion,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O, then the glen was all in motion!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The wild beasts of the forest came,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Broke from their bughts and faulds the tame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And goved around, charmed and amazed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Even the dull cattle crooned and gazed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And murmured and looked with anxious pain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For something the mystery to explain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">The buzzard came with the throstle-cock;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The corby left her houf in the rock;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The blackbird alang wi’ the eagle flew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hind came tripping o’er the dew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The wolf and the kid their raike began,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the tod, and the lamb, and the leveret ran;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hawk and the hern attour them hung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the merl and the mavis forhooyed their young;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all in a peaceful ring were hurled:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It was like an eve in a sinless world!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">When a month and a day had come and gane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kilmeny sought the green-wood wene;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">There laid her down on the leaves sae green,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Kilmeny on earth was never mair seen.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But, O, the words that fell from her mouth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were words of wonder and words of truth!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But all the land were in fear and dread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For they kendna whether she was living or dead.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It wasna her hame, and she couldna remain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She left this world of sorrow and pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And returned to the Land of Thought again.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>The Ettrick Shepherd. (Condensed)</em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="LAYS_O_WONDER">LAYS O’ WONDER</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE WEE WEE MAN</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>As I was walking all alane,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Between a water and a wa’,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And there I spied a wee wee man,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And he was the least that e’er I saw.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>His legs were scarce a shathmont’s length,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And thick and thimber was his thie;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Between his brows there was a span,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And between his shoulders there was three.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He took up a meikle stane,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And he flang’t as far as I could see;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Though I had been a Wallace wight,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>I couldna liften’t to my knee.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“O, wee wee man, but thou art strang!</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>O tell me where thy dwelling be?”</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“My dwelling’s down by yon bonny bower,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>O will you go with me and see?”</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>On we lap, and awa’ we rade,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Till we came to yon bonny green;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>We lighted down to bait our horse,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And out there came a lady fine.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Four-and-twenty at her back,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And they were a’ clad out in green;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Though the King of Scotland had been there,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>The warst o’ them might hae been his queen.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>On we lap, and awa’ we rade,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Till we came to yon bonny ha’,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Where the roof was o’ the beaten gowd.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the floor was o’ the crystal a’.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>When we came to the stair foot,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Ladies were dancing jimp and sma’;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But in the twinkling o’ an ee,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>My wee wee man was clean awa’.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE EARL OF MAR’S DAUGHTER</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">It</span> was intill a pleasant time,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon a simmer’s day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The noble Earl of Mar’s daughter</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Went forth to sport and play.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As thus she did amuse hersell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Below a green aik tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There she saw a sprightly doo</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Set on a tower sae hie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Cow-me-doo, my love sae true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If ye’ll come down to me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye’se hae a cage o guid red gowd</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Instead o simple tree:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll put gowd hingers roun your cage,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And siller roun your wa;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll gar ye shine as fair a bird</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As ony o them a’.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But she hadnae these words well spoke,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor yet these words well said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till Cow-me-doo flew frae the tower</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And lighted on her head.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then she has brought this pretty bird</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hame to her bowers and ha,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And made him shine as fair a bird</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As ony o them a’.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When day was gane, and night was come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">About the evening tide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This lady spied a sprightly youth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stand straight up by her side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“From whence came ye, young man?” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That does surprise me sair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My door was bolted right secure,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What way hae ye come here?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O had your tongue, ye lady fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lat a’ your folly be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mind ye not on your turtle-doo</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Last day ye brought wi thee?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O tell me mair, young man,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“This does surprise me now;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What country hae ye come frae?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What pedigree are you?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My mither lives on foreign isles,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She has nae mair but me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She is a queen o wealth and state,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And birth and high degree.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Likewise well skilld in magic spells,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As ye may plainly see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she transformd me to yon shape,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To charm such maids as thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I am a doo the live-lang day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A sprightly youth at night;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This aye gars me appear mair fair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In a fair maiden’s sight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And it was but this verra day</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That I came ower the sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your lovely face did me enchant;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll live and dee wi thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Cow-me-doo, my luve sae true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nae mair frae me ye’se gae;”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“That’s never my intent, my luve,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As ye said, it shall be sae.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Cow-me-doo, my luve sae true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It’s time for us to wed;”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Wi a’ my heart, my dear marrow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It’s be as ye hae said.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Then</span> he has staid in bower wi her</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For sax lang years and ane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till sax young sons to him she bare,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the seventh she’s brought hame.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But aye as ever a child was born</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He carried them away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And brought them to his mither’s care,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fast as he coud fly.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus he has staid in bower wi her</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For twenty years and three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There came a lord o high renown</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To court this fair ladie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But still his proffer she refused,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a’ his presents too;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Says, “I’m content to live alane</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi my bird, Cow-me-doo.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her father sware a solemn oath</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Amang the nobles all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The morn, or ere I eat or drink,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This bird I will gar kill.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bird was sitting in his cage,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And heard what they did say;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when he found they were dismist,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Says, “Wae’s me for this day!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Before that I do langer stay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And thus to be forlorn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll gang unto my mither’s bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where I was bred and born.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Cow-me-doo took flight and flew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beyond the raging sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lighted near his mither’s castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On a tower o gowd sae hie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As his mither was wauking out,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To see what she coud see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there she saw her little son,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Set on the tower sae hie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Get dancers here to dance,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And minstrells for to play;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For here’s my young son, Florentine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come here wi me to stay.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Get nae dancers to dance, mither,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor minstrells for to play,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the mither o my seven sons,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The morn’s her wedding-day.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O tell me, tell me, Florentine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tell me, and tell me true,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tell me this day without a flaw,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What I will do for you.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Instead of dancers to dance, mither,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or minstrells for to play,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Turn four-and-twenty wall-wight men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like storks in feathers gray;</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My seven sons in seven swans,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Aboon their heads to flee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I mysell a gay gos-hawk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A bird o high degree.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then sichin said the queen hersell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That thing’s too high for me;”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But she applied to an auld woman,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who had mair skill than she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Instead o dancers to dance a dance,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or minstrells for to play,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Four-and-twenty wall-wight men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Turnd birds o feathers gray;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her seven sons in seven swans,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Aboon their heads to flee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he himsell a gay gos-hawk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A bird o high degree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This flock o birds took flight and flew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beyond the raging sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And landed near the Earl Mar’s castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Took shelter in every tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They were a flock o pretty birds,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Right comely to be seen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The people viewd them wi surprise,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As they dancd on the green.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">These birds ascended frae the tree</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And lighted on the ha,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And at the last wi force did flee</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Amang the nobles a’.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The storks there seized some o the men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They coud neither fight nor flee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The swans they bound the bride’s best man</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Below a green aik tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They lighted next on maidens fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then on the bride’s own head,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wi the twinkling o an ee</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The bride and them were fled.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s ancient men at weddings been</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For sixty years or more,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But sic a curious wedding-day</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They never saw before.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For naething coud the companie do,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor naething coud they say</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But they saw a flock o pretty birds</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That took their bride away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When that Earl Mar he came to know</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where his dochter did stay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He signd a bond o’ unity,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And visits now they pay.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>KEMP OWYNE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Her</span> mother died when she was young,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which gave her cause to make great moan;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her father married the warst woman</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever lived in Christendom.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She served her with foot and hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In every thing that she could dee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till once, in an unlucky time,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She threw her in ower Craigy’s sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Says, “Lie you there, dove Isabel,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all my sorrows lie with thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till Kemp Owyne come ower the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And borrow you with kisses three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let all the warld do what they will,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh borrowed shall you never be!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her breath grew strang, her hair grew lang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And twisted thrice about the tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all the people, far and near,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thought that a savage beast was she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">These news did come to Kemp Owyne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where he lived, far beyond the sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He hasted him to Craigy’s sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And on the savage beast lookd he.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her breath was strang, her hair was lang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And twisted was about the tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with a swing she came about:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Come to Craigy’s sea, and kiss with me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here is a royal belt,” she cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That I have found in the green sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And while your body it is on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Drawn shall your blood never be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But if you touch me, tail or fin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I vow my belt your death shall be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He stepped in, gave her a kiss,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The royal belt he brought him wi;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her breath was strang, her hair was lang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And twisted twice about the tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with a swing she came about:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Come to Craigy’s sea, and kiss with me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here is a royal ring,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That I have found in the green sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And while your finger it is on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Drawn shall your blood never be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But if you touch me, tail or fin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I swear my ring your death shall be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He stepped in, gave her a kiss,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The royal ring he brought him wi;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her breath was strang, her hair was lang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And twisted ance about the tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with a swing she came about:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Come to Craigy’s sea, and kiss with me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here is a royal brand,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That I have found in the green sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And while your body it is on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Drawn shall your blood never be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But if you touch me, tail or fin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I swear my brand your death shall be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He stepped in, gave her a kiss,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The royal brand he brought him wi;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her breath was sweet, her hair grew short,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And twisted nane about the tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And smilingly she came about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fair a woman as fair could be.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_LADY_OF_SHALOTT"></a>THE LADY OF SHALOTT</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">On</span> either side the river lie</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Long fields of barley and of rye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That clothe the wold and meet the sky;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thro’ the field the road runs by</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To many-towered Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And up and down the people go,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Gazing where the lilies blow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Round an island there below.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The island of Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Willows whiten, aspens quiver,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Little breezes dusk and shiver</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thro’ the wave that runs for ever</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By the island in the river</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Flowing down to Camelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Four grey walls, and four grey towers,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Overlook a space of flowers,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the silent isle imbowers</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">By the margin, willow-veiled,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Slide the heavy barges trailed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By slow horses; and unhailed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shallop flitteth silken-sailed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Skimming down to Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But who hath seen her wave her hand?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or at the casement seen her stand?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or is she known in all the land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Only reapers, reaping early</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In among the bearded barley,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hear a song that echoes cheerly</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the river winding clearly,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Down to towered Camelot;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And by the moon the reaper weary,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Piling sheaves in uplands airy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Listening, whispers “’Tis the Fairy</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lady of Shalott.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">There</span> she weaves by night and day</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A magic web with colours gay.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She has heard a whisper say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A curse is on her if she stay</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To look down to Camelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She knows not what the curse may be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And so she weaveth steadily,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And little other care hath she,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And moving thro’ a mirror clear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That hangs before her all the year,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shadows of the world appear.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There she sees the highway near</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Winding down to Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There the river eddy whirls,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there the surly village-churls,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the red cloaks of market-girls,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pass onward from Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An abbot on an ambling pad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or long-haired page in crimson clad,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> - <div class="verse indent2">Goes by to towered Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sometimes thro’ the mirror blue</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Knights come riding two and two:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She hath no loyal Knight and true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But in her web she still delights</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To weave the mirror’s magic sights,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For often thro’ the silent nights</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A funeral, with plumes and lights</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And music, went to Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or when the moon was overhead,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Came two young lovers lately wed:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I am half sick of shadows,” said</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">A bow-shot</span> from her bower-eaves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He rode between the barley-sheaves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And flamed upon the brazen greaves</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of bold Sir Lancelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A Red-cross Knight for ever kneeled</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To a lady in his shield,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That sparkled on the yellow field,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beside remote Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The gemmy bridle glittered free,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like to some branch of stars we see</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Hung in the golden Galaxy.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bridle-bells rang merrily</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As he rode down to Camelot:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And from his blazoned baldric slung</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A mighty silver bugle hung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And as he rode his armour rung,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beside remote Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All in the blue unclouded weather</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thick-jewelled shone the saddle-leather,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The helmet and the helmet-feather</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Burned like one burning flame together,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As he rode down to Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As often thro’ the purple night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Below the starry clusters bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Some bearded meteor, trailing light,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Moves over still Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His broad clear brow in sunlight glowed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On burnished hooves his war-horse trode;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From underneath his helmet flowed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His coal-black curls as on he rode,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As he rode down to Camelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the bank and from the river</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He flashed into the crystal mirror,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Tirra lirra,” by the river</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sang Sir Lancelot.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She left the web, she left the loom,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She made three paces thro’ the room,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">She saw the water-lily bloom,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She saw the helmet and the plume,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She looked down to Camelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Out flew the web and floated wide;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The mirror cracked from side to side;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The curse is come upon me,” cried</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART IV</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">In</span> the stormy east-wind straining,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The pale yellow woods were waning,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The broad stream in his banks complaining,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Heavily the low sky raining</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Over towered Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down she came and found a boat</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beneath a willow left afloat,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And round about the prow she wrote</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>The Lady of Shalott</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And down the river’s dim expanse</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like some bold seër in a trance,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Seeing all his own mischance—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a glassy countenance</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did she look to Camelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And at the closing of the day</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She loosed the chain, and down she lay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The broad stream bore her far away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Lying, robed in snowy white</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That loosely flew to left and right—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The leaves upon her falling light—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thro’ the noises of the night</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She floated down to Camelot;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And as the boat-head wound along</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The willowy hills and fields among,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They heard her singing her last song,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Heard a carol, mournful, holy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till her blood was frozen slowly,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her eyes were darkened wholly,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Turned to towered Camelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For ere she reached upon the tide</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The first house by the water-side,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Singing in her song she died,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Under tower and balcony,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By garden-wall and gallery,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A gleaming shape she floated by,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dead-pale between the houses high,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Silent into Camelot.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Out upon the wharfs they came,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Knight and burgher, lord and dame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And round the prow they read her name,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>The Lady of Shalott</em>.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who is this? and what is here?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And in the lighted palace near</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Died the sound of royal cheer;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they crossed themselves for fear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All the Knights at Camelot:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Lancelot mused a little space;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He said, “She has a lovely face;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">God in his mercy lend her grace,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady of Shalott.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_SINGING_LEAVES"></a>THE SINGING LEAVES</h3> -</div> - -<h4>I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<span class="smcap">What</span> fairings will ye that I bring?”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said the King to his daughters three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“For I to Vanity Fair am boun’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now say what shall they be?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then up and spake the eldest daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That lady tall and grand:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, bring me pearls and diamonds great,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gold rings for my hand.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thereafter spake the second daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That was both white and red:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“For me bring silks that will stand alone,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a gold comb for my head.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then came the turn of the least daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That was whiter than thistle-down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And among the gold of her blithesome hair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Dim shone the golden crown.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There came a bird this morning,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sang ’neath my bower eaves,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till I dreamed, as his music made me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">‘Ask thou for the Singing Leaves.’”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the brow of the King swelled crimson</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a flush of angry scorn:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Well have ye spoken, my two eldest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And chosen as ye were born;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But she, like a thing of peasant race,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That is happy binding the sheaves;”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then he saw her dead mother in her face,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And said, “Thou shalt have thy leaves.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">He</span> mounted and rode three days and nights</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till he came to Vanity Fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ’t was easy to buy the gems and the silk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But no Singing Leaves were there.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then deep in the Greenwood rode he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And asked of every tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, if you have ever a Singing Leaf,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I pray you give it me!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But the trees all kept their counsel,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And never a word said they,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Only there sighed from the pine-tops</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A music of seas far away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Only the pattering aspen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Made a sound of growing rain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That fell ever faster and faster,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then faltered to silence again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, where shall I find a little foot-page</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That would win both hose and shoon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And will bring to me the Singing Leaves</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If they grow under the moon?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then lightly turned him Walter the page,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By the stirrup as he ran:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now pledge you me the truesome word</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of a King and gentleman,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“That you will give me the first, first thing</div> - <div class="verse indent2">You meet at your castle-gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Princess shall get the Singing Leaves,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or mine be a traitor’s fate.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King’s head dropt upon his breast</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A moment, as it might be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’T will be my dog, he thought, and said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“My faith I plight to thee.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Walter took from next his heart</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A packet small and thin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now give you this to the Princess Anne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Singing Leaves are therein.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">As</span> the King rode in at his castle-gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A maiden to meet him ran,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And “Welcome, Father!” she laughed and cried</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Together, the Princess Anne.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Lo, here the Singing Leaves,” quoth he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And woe, but they cost me dear!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She took the packet, and the smile</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Deepened down beneath the tear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It deepened down till it reached her heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And then gushed up again,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And lighted her tears as the sudden sun</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Transfigures the summer rain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the first Leaf, when it was opened,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sang: “I am Walter the page,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the songs I sing ’neath thy window</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Are my only heritage.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the second Leaf sang, “But in the land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That is neither on earth nor sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My lute and I are lords of more</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than thrice this kingdom’s fee.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the third Leaf sang, “Be mine! Be mine!”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ever it sang, “Be mine!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then sweeter it sang and ever sweeter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And said, “I am thine, thine, thine!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At the first Leaf she grew pale enough,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At the second she turned aside,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At the third, ’t was as if a lily flushed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a rose’s red heart’s tide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Good counsel gave the bird,” said she,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I have my hope thrice o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For they sing to my very heart,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And it sings to them evermore.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She brought to him her beauty and truth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But and broad earldoms three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he made her Queen of the broader lands</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He held of his lute in fee.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>James Russell Lowell</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_LUCK_OF_EDENHALL"></a>THE LUCK OF EDENHALL</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Of</span> Edenhall, the youthful Lord</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bids sound the festal trumpet’s call;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He rises at the banquet board,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And cries, ’mid the drunken revellers all:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now bring me the Luck of Edenhall!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The butler hears the words with pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The house’s oldest seneschal,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Takes slow from its silken cloth again</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The drinking-glass of crystal tall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They call it the Luck of Edenhall.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then said the Lord: “This glass to praise,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fill with red wine from Portugal!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The greybeard with trembling hand obeys;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A purple light shines over all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It beams from the Luck of Edenhall.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then speaks the Lord, and waves it light:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“This glass of flashing crystal tall</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gave to my sires the Fountain-Sprite;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She wrote in it, <em>If this glass doth fall,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Farewell then, O Luck of Edenhall!</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“’T was right a goblet the Fate should be</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of the joyous race of Edenhall!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deep draughts drink we right willingly</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And willingly ring, with merry call,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kling! klang! to the Luck of Edenhall!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">First rings it deep, and full, and mild,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like to the song of a nightingale;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then like the roar of a torrent wild;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then mutters at last like the thunder’s fall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The glorious Luck of Edenhall.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For its keeper takes a race of might,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fragile goblet of crystal tall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It has lasted longer than is right;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Kling! klang!—with a harder blow than all</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Will I try the Luck of Edenhall!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As the goblet ringing flies apart,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Suddenly cracks the vaulted hall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And through the rift, the wild flames start;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The guests in dust are scattered all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With the breaking Luck of Edenhall!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In storms the foe, with fire and sword;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He in the night had scaled the wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Slain by the sword lies the youthful Lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But holds in his hand the crystal tall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shattered Luck of Edenhall.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">On the morrow the butler gropes alone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The greybeard in the desert hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He seeks his Lord’s burnt skeleton,’</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He seeks in the dismal ruin’s fall</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shards of the Luck of Edenhall.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The stone wall,” saith he, “doth fall aside,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down must the stately columns fall;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glass is this earth’s Luck and Pride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In atoms shall fall this earthly ball</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One day like the Luck of Edenhall!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from Uhland</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>MAY OF THE MORIL GLEN</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">I will</span> tell you of ane wondrous tale,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As ever was told by man,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or ever was sung by minstrel meet</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Since this base world began:—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It is of ane May, and ane lovely May,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That dwelt in the Moril Glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The fairest flower of mortal frame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But a devil amongst the men;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For nine of them sticket themselves for love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ten leaped in the main,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And seven-and-thirty brake their hearts,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And never loved women again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But this bonnie May, she never knew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A father’s kindly claim;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She never was blessed in holy Church,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor christened in holy name.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But there she lived an earthly flower</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of beauty so supreme,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Some feared she was of the Mermaid’s brood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come out of the salt sea faeme.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Some said she was found in a Fairy Ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And born of the Fairy Queen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For there was a rainbow behind the moon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That night she first was seen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And no man could look on her face</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And eyne that beamed so dear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But felt a sting go through his heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Far sharper than a spear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So that around the Moril Glen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our brave young men did lie,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With limbs as lydder and as lithe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As duddis hung out to dry.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye the tears ran down in streams</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’er cheeks right woe-begone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye they gasped, and they gratte,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And thus made piteous moan:—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Alack! that I had ever been born,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or dandelit on the knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or rockit in ane cradle bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beneath a mother’s e’e!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For love is like the fiery flame</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That quivers through the rain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And love is like the pang of death</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That splits the heart in twain.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If I had loved earthly thing</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of earthly blithesomeness,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I might have been beloved again,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bathed in earthly bliss.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But I have loved ane freakish Fay</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of frowardness and sin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With heavenly beauty on the face,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And heart of stone within!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">But</span> word’s gone East, and word’s gone West,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Mong high and low degree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While it went to the King upon the throne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ane wrathful man was he.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What!” said the King, “and shall we sit</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In sackcloth mourning sad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While all mine lieges of the land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For ane young quean run mad?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go, saddle me my milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of true Megaira brode;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I will go and see this wondrous dame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And prove her by the Rode.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And if I find her Elfin Queen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or thing of Fairy kind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I will burn her into ashes small,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sift them on the wind.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King hath chosen four-score Knights,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All busked gallantlye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he is away to the Moril Glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fast as he can dree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when he came to the Moril Glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ae morning fair and clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This lovely May on horseback rode</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To hunt the fallow deer.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her palfrey was of snowy hue,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A pale unearthly thing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That revelled over hill and dale</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like bird upon the wing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her screen was like a net of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That dazzled as it flew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her mantle was of the rainbow’s red,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her rail of its bonny blue.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A golden comb with diamonds bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her seemly virgin crown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shone like the new moon’s lady-light</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’er cloud of amber brown.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The lightning that shot from her eyne,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Flickered like Elfin brand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It was sharper nor the sharpest spear</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In all Northumberland.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King he wheeled him round about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And calleth to his men,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yonder she comes, this wierdly Witch,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This spirit of the glen!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come, rank your master up behind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This serpent to belay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll let you hear me put her down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In grand polemic way.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Swift came the maid o’er strath and stron—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nae dantonit dame was she,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until the King her path withstood</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In might and majestye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The virgin cast on him a look,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With gay and graceful air,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As on something below her note,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ought not to have been there.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King, whose belt was like to burst,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With speeches most divine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now felt ane throbbing of the heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And quaking of the spine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye he gasped for his breath,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gaped in dire dismay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And waved his arm, and smote his breast;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But word he could not say.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The spankie grewis they scoured the dale,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The dun deer to restrain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The virgin gave her steed the rein,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And followed, might and main.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go bring her back,” the King he cried;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“This reifery must not be.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though you should bind her hands and feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Go, bring her back to me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The deer she flew, the garf and grew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They followed hard behind;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The milk-white palfrey brushed the dew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Far fleeter nor the wind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But woe betide the Lords and Knights,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That taiglit in the dell!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For though with whip and spur they plied,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Full far behind they fell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They looked out o’er their left shoulders,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To see what they might see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there the King, in fit of love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lay spurring on the lea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And, aye, he battered with his feet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And rowted with despair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And pulled the grass up by the roots,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And flung it on the air!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What ails, what ails my royal Liege?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Such grief I do deplore.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, I’m bewitched,” the King replied,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And gone forevermore!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go, bring her back!—go, bring her back!—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Go, bring her back to me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I must either die of love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or own that dear Ladye!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The deer was slain; the royal train</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then closed the virgin round,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And then her fair and lily hands</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Behind her back were bound.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But who should bind her winsome feet?—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That bred such strife and pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That sixteen brave and belted Knights</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lay gasping on the plain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when she came before the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ane ireful carle was he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saith he, “Dame, you must be my love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or burn beneath ane tree.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“No, I can ne’er be love to thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor any lord thou hast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For you are married men each one,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I a maiden chaste.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But here I promise, and I vow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By Scotland’s King and Crown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who first a widower shall prove,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall claim me as his own.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King hath mounted his milk-white steed,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One word he said not more,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he is away from the Moril Glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As ne’er rode King before.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And every Lord and every Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Made off his several way,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All galloping as they had been mad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Withoutten stop or stay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But there was never such dole and pain</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In any land befel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For there is wickedness in man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That grieveth me to tell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There was one eye, and one alone,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beheld the deeds were done;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the lovely Queen of Fair Scotland</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ne’er saw the morning sun.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And seventy-seven wedded dames,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fair as e’er were born,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The very pride of all the land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Were dead before the morn.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span></p> - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">And</span> the bonny May of the Moril Glen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is weeping in despair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For she saw the hills of fair Scotland,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Could be her home nae mair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then there were chariots came o’er night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As silent and as soon</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As shadow of ane little cloud</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the wan light of the moon.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Some said they came out of the rock,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And some out of the sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And some said they were sent from Hell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To bring that fair Ladye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The fairest flower of mortal frame</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Passed from the Moril Glen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ne’er may such a deadly eye</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shine amongst Christian men!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In seven chariots, gilded bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The train went o’er the fell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All wrapt within ane shower of hail;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whither no man could tell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But there was a Ship in the Firth of Forth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The like ne’er sailed the faeme,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For no man of her country knew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her colours, or her name.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her mast was made of beaten gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her sails of the silken twine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a thousand pennons streamed behind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And trembled o’er the brine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As she lay mirrored in the main,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It was a comely view,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So many rainbows round her played</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With every breeze that blew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the hailstone shroud it rattled loud,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Right over ford and fen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And swathed the flower of the Moril Glen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From eyes of sinful men.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the hailstone shroud it wheeled and rowed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As wan as death unshriven,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like dead cloth of ane Angel grim,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or winding sheet of Heaven.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It was a fearsome sight to see</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Toil through the morning grey,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And whenever it reached the comely Ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She set sail and away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She set her sail before the gale,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As it began to sing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she heaved and rocked down the tide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unlike an earthly thing.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The dolphins fled out of her way</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Into the creeks of Fife,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the blackguard seals, they yowlit for dread,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And swam for death and life.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But aye the Ship, the bonny Ship</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out o’er the green wave flew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Swift as the solan on the wing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or terrified sea-mew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No billow breasted on her prow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor levelled on the lee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She seemed to sail upon the air,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And never touch the sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And away, and away went the bonny Ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which man never more did see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But whether she went to Heaven or Hell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was ne’er made known to me.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>The Ettrick Shepherd. (Condensed)</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_LAIDLEY_WORM"></a>THE LAIDLEY WORM O’<br /> -SPINDLESTON-HEUGHS</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> King is gone from Bambrough Castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Long may the Princess mourn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Long may she stand on the Castle wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Looking for his return.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She has knotted the keys upon a string,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And with her she has them taen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She has cast them o’er her left shoulder,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And to the gate she is gane.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She tripped out, she tripped in,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She tript into the yard;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But it was more for the King’s sake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than for the Queen’s regard.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It fell out on a day, the King</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Brought the Queen with him home;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all the Lords in our country,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To welcome them did come.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh welcome, Father!” the Lady cries,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Unto your halls and bowers;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And so are you, my Stepmother,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For all that is here is yours.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A Lord said, wondering while she spake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“This Princess of the North</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Surpasses all of female kind</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In beauty and in worth.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The envious Queen replied, “At least,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">You might have excepted me:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In a few hours I will her bring</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Down to a low degree.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I will her liken to a Laidley Worm,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That warps about the stone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And not till Childy Wynd comes back,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall she again be won.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> Princess stood at the bower-door,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Laughing, who could her blame?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But e’er the next day’s sun went down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A long Worm she became.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For seven miles East, and seven miles West,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And seven miles North, and South,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No blade of grass or corn could grow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So venomous was her mouth.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The milk of seven stately cows—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It was costly her to keep—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was brought her daily, which she drank</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before she went to sleep.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At this day may be seen the cave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which held her folded up,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the stone trough—the very same—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out of which she did sup.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Word went East, and word went West,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And word is gone over the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That a Laidley Worm in Spindleston-Heughs,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Would ruin the North Countrie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Word went East, and word went West,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And over the sea did go;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Child of Wynd got wit of it,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which filled his heart with woe.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He called straight his merry men all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They thirty were and three:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I wish I were at Spindleston,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This desperate Worm to see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We have no time now here to waste,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hence quickly let us sail:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My only sister Margaret</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Something, I fear, doth ail.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They built a ship without delay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With masts of the Rowan-Tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With fluttering sails of silk so fine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And set her on the sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They went aboard; the wind with speed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Blew them along the deep;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length they spied an huge square tower</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On a rock high and steep.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The sea was smooth, the weather clear;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When they approached nigher,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">King Ida’s Castle they well knew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the banks of Bambroughshire.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span></p> - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> Queen looked out at her bower-window,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To see what she could see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There she espied a gallant ship</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sailing upon the sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When she beheld the silken sails,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Full glancing in the sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To sink the ship she sent away</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her Witch Wives every one.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Their spells were vain; the Hags returned</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the Queen in sorrowful mood,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Crying, that Witches have no power</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where there is Rowan-Tree wood.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her last effort, she sent a boat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which in the haven lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With armed men to board the ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But they were driven away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Worm leapt up, the Worm leapt down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She plaited round the stane;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye, as the ship came to the land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She banged it off again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Child then ran out of her reach</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The ship on Budle-sand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And jumping into the shallow sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Securely got to land.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And now he drew his berry-brown sword,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And laid it on her head;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And swore, if she did harm to him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That he would strike her dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! quit thy sword, and bend thy bow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And give me kisses three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For though I am a poisonous Worm,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No hurt I will do to thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! quit thy sword, and bend thy bow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And give me kisses three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If I am not won e’er the sun go down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Won I shall never be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He quitted his sword, he bent his bow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He gave her kisses three:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She crept into a hole a Worm,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But stept out a Lady.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No clothing had this Lady fine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To keep her from the cold;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He took his mantle from him about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And round her did it fold.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He has taken his mantle from him about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And it he wrapt her in,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they are up to Bambrough Castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fast as they can win.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span></p> - -<h4>PART IV</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">His</span> absence and her serpent-shape,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The King had long deplored;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He now rejoiced to see them both</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Again to him restored.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Queen they wanted, whom they found</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All pale and sore afraid,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Because she knew her power must yield</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Childy Wynd’s, who said:—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Woe be to thee, thou wicked Witch,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An ill death mayest thou dee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As thou my sister hast likened,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So likened shalt thou be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I will turn you into a Toad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That on the ground doth wend;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And won, won, shalt thou never be,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till this world hath an end.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Now on the sand near Ida’s tower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She crawls a loathsome Toad,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And venom spits on every maid</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She meets upon her road.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The virgins all of Bambrough town,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will swear that they have seen</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This spiteful Toad, of monstrous size,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whilst walking they have been.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All folks believe within the shire,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This story to be true;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they all run to Spindleston,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The cave and trough to view.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This fact now Duncan Frasier,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of Cheviot, sings in rhyme,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lest Bambroughshire men should forget</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Some part of it in time.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="MERRY_GESTES">MERRY GESTES</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>A TRAGIC STORY</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>There lived a sage in days of yore,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And he a handsome pigtail wore;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But wondered much, and sorrowed more,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Because it hung behind him.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He mused upon this curious case,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And swore he’d change the pigtail’s place,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And have it hanging at his face.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Not dangling there behind him.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Says he, “The mystery I’ve found,—</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I’ll turn me round,”—he turned him round;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>But still it hung behind him.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Then round and round, and out and in,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>All day the puzzled sage did spin;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>In vain—it mattered not a pin—</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>The pigtail hung behind him.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And right, and left, and round about,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And up, and down, and in, and out</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He turned; but still the pigtail stout</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Hung steadily behind him.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And though his efforts never slack,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And though he twist, and twirl, and tack,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Alas! still faithful to his back,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>The pigtail hangs behind him.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>William Makepeace Thackeray</em><br /> -<em><span class="padr3h">From Chamisso</span></em></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="i158f" style="max-width: 46.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_158f.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">HE TURNED HIM ROUND;<br /> -BUT STILL IT HUNG BEHIND HIM</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>LITTLE BILLEE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">There</span> were three sailors of Bristol city,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who took a boat and went to sea.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But first with beef and captain’s biscuits</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And pickled pork they loaded she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There was gorging Jack and guzzling Jimmy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the youngest he was little Billee.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now when they got as far as the Equator</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They’d nothing left but one split pea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I am extremely hungaree.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To gorging Jack says guzzling Jimmy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“We’ve nothing left, us must eat we.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Says gorging Jack to guzzling Jimmy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“With one another we shouldn’t agree!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s little Bill, he’s young and tender,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We’re old and tough, so let’s eat he.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! Billy, we’re going to kill and eat you,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So undo the button of your chemie.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When Bill received this information,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He used his pocket handkerchie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“First let me say my catechism,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which my poor mammy taught to me.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Make haste, make haste,” says guzzling Jimmy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While Jack pulled out his snickersnee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So Billy went up to the main top-gallant mast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And down he fell on his bended knee.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He scarce had come to the twelfth commandment</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When up he jumps. “There’s land I see:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Jerusalem and Madagascar,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And North and South Amerikee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s the British flag a-riding at anchor,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With Admiral Napier, K. C. B.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So when they got aboard of the Admiral’s,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He hanged fat Jack and flogged Jimmee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But as for little Bill he made him</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Captain of a Seventy-three.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>William Makepeace Thackeray</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="BRIAN_OLINN"></a>BRIAN O’LINN</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Brian O’Linn</span> was a gentleman born,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His hair it was long and his beard unshorn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His teeth were out and his eyes far in,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m a wonderful beauty,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn was hard up for a coat,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He borrowed the skin of a neighbouring goat,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">He buckled the horns right under his chin,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll answer for pistols,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn had no breeches to wear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He got him a sheepskin to make him a pair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With the fleshy side out and the woolly side in,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“They are pleasant and cool,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn had no hat to his head,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He stuck on a pot that was under the shed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He murdered a cod for the sake of his fin,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“’T will pass for a feather,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn had no shirt to his back,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He went to a neighbour and borrowed a sack,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He puckered a meal-bag under his chin,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll take it for ruffles,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn had no shoes at all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He bought an old pair at a cobbler’s stall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The uppers were broken and the soles were thin,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll do me for dancing,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn had no watch for to wear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He bought a fine turnip, and scooped it out fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He slipped a live cricket right under the skin,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll think it is ticking,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn was in want of a brooch,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He stuck a brass pin in a big coackroach,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The breast of his shirt he fixed it straight in,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll think it’s a diamond,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn went a-courting one night,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He set both the mother and daughter to fight,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Stop! stop!” he exclaimed, “if you have but the tin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll marry you both,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn went to bring his wife home,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He had but one horse, that was all skin and bone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll put her behind me, as nate as a pin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her mother before me,” says Brian O’Linn.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Brian O’Linn and his wife and wife’s mother,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They all crossed over the bridge together,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bridge broke down and they all tumbled in,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“We’ll go home by water,” says Brian O’Linn!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="DICKY_OF_BALLYMAN"></a>DICKY OF BALLYMAN</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">On</span> New Year’s Day, as I heard say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dicky he saddled his dapple grey;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He put on his Sunday clothes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His scarlet vest, and his new made hose.</div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>Diddle dum di, diddle dum do,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>Diddle dum di, diddle dum do!</em></div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He rode till he came to Wilson Hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There he rapped, and loud did call;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mistress Ann came down straightway,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And asked him what he had to say.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Don’t you know me, Mistress Ann?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I am Dicky of Ballyman;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An honest lad, though I am poor,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I never was in love before.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I have an uncle, the best of friends,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sometimes to me a fat rabbit he sends;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And many other dainty fowl,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To please my life, my joy, my soul.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sometimes I reap, sometimes I mow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And to the market I do go,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To sell my father’s corn and hay,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I earn my sixpence every day!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, Dicky! you go beneath your mark,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You only wander in the dark;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sixpence a day will never do,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I must have silks, and satins, too!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Besides, Dicky, I must have tea</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For my breakfast, every day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And after dinner a bottle of wine,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For without it I cannot dine.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If on fine clothes our money is spent,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pray how shall my lord be paid his rent?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He’ll expect it when ’tis due,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Believe me, what I say is true.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“As for tea, good stirabout</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Will do far better, I make no doubt;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And spring water, when you dine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is far wholesomer than wine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Potatoes, too, are very nice food,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I don’t know any half so good:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You may have them boiled or roast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whichever way you like them most.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This gave the company much delight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And made them all to laugh outright;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So Dicky had no more to say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But saddled his dapple and rode away.</div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>Diddle dum di, diddle dum do,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>Diddle dum di, diddle dum do!</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="BALLAD_OF_THE_OYSTERMAN"></a>THE BALLAD OF THE OYSTERMAN</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">It</span> was a tall young Oysterman lived by the riverside,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His shop was just upon the bank, his boat was on the tide;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">The daughter of a Fisherman, that was so straight and slim,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lived over on the other bank, right opposite to him.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It was the pensive Oysterman that saw a lovely maid,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon a moonlight evening, a-sitting in the shade;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He saw her wave her handkerchief, as much as if to say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m wide awake, young Oysterman, and all the folks away.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then up arose the Oysterman, and to himself said he,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I guess I’ll leave the skiff at home, for fear that folks should see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I read it in the story-book, that, for to kiss his dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Leander swam the Hellespont,—and I will swim this here.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And he has leaped into the waves, and crossed the shining stream,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he has clambered up the bank, all in the moonlight gleam;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! there were kisses sweet as dew, and words as soft as rain,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But they have heard her father’s step, and in he leaps again!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Out spoke the ancient Fisherman,—“Oh! what as that, my daughter?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“’T was nothing but a pebble, sir, I threw into the water.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And what is that, pray tell me, love, that paddles off so fast?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“It’s nothing but a porpoise, sir, that’s been a swimming past.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Out spoke the ancient Fisherman,—“Now bring me my harpoon!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll get into my fishing-boat, and fix the fellow soon.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down fell that pretty innocent, as falls a snow-white lamb,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her hair drooped round her pallid cheeks, like seaweed on a clam.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Alas, for those two loving ones! she waked not from her swound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he was taken with the cramp, and in the waves was drowned;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Fate has metamorphosed them, in pity of their woe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now they keep an oyster-shop for Mermaids down below.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Oliver Wendell Holmes</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE CINDER KING</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Who</span> is it that sits in the kitchen and weeps,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While tick goes the clock, and the tabby-cat sleeps,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That watches the grate, without ceasing to spy</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whether purses or coffins will out of it fly?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis Betty; who saw the false tailor, Bob Scott,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lead a bride to the altar, which bride she was not.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis Betty, determined love from her to fling,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And woo, for his riches, the dark Cinder-King.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Now spent tallow-candle-grease fattened the soil,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the blue-burning lamp had half wasted its oil,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the black-beetle boldly came crawling from far,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the red coals were sinking beneath the third bar;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When “<em>one!</em>” struck the clock—and instead of the bird</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who used to sing cuckoo whene’er the clock stirred,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Out burst a grim raven, and uttered “<em>caw! caw!</em>”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While Puss, though she woke, durst not put forth a claw.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the jack fell a-going as if one should sup,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the earth rocked as though it would swallow one up;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">With fuel from Hell, a strange coal-scuttle came,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a self-handled poker made fearful the flame.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A cinder shot from it, of size to amaze,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a bounce, such as Betty ne’er heard in her days,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thrice, serpent-like, hissed as its heat fled away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, lo! something dark in a vast coffin lay!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come, Betty,” quoth croaking that nondescript thing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come, bless the fond arms of your true Cinder-King!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Three more Kings, my brothers, are waiting to greet ye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who—don’t take it ill—must at four o’clock eat ye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My darling! it must be, do make up your mind;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We element brothers, united, and kind,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have a feast and a wedding, each night of our lives,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So constantly sup on each other’s new wives.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In vain squalled the cook-maid, and prayed not to wed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cinder crunched in her mouth, cinder rained on her head.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She sank in the coffin with cinders strewn o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And coffin nor Betty saw man any more.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Modern, anon.</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE FROLICKSOME DUKE; OR,<br /> -THE TINKER’S GOOD FORTUNE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Now</span>, as fame does report, a young Duke keeps a Court,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One that pleases his fancy with frolicksome sport:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But amongst all the rest, here is one, I protest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which will make you to smile when you hear the true jest:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A poor Tinker he found, lying drunk on the ground,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As secure in a sleep as if laid in a swound.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Duke said to his men, “William, Richard, and Ben,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Take him home to my palace; we’ll sport with him then.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er a horse he was laid, and with care soon conveyed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the palace, altho’ he was poorly arrai’d:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then they stript off his cloaths, both his shirt, shoes, and hose,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they put him to bed for to take his repose.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Having pulled off his shirt, which was all over durt,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They did give him clean holland, this was no great hurt:</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">On a bed of soft down, like a lord of renown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They did lay him to sleep the drink out of his crown.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the morning, when day, then admiring he lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For to see the rich chamber, both gaudy and gay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Now he lay something late, in his rich bed of state,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till at last Knights and Squires they on him did wait;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the chamberling bare, then did likewise declare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He desired to know what apparel he’d ware:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The poor Tinker amazed, on the gentleman gazed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And admired how he to this honour was raised.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Tho’ he seemed something mute, yet he chose a rich suit,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which he straitways put on without longer dispute;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a star on his side, which the Tinker off’t eyed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And it seemed for to swell him no little with pride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For he said to himself, “Where is Joan my sweet wife?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sure she never did see me so fine in her life.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">From a convenient place, the right Duke, his good grace,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Did observe his behaviour in every case.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">To a garden of state, on the Tinker they wait,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Trumpets sounding before him: thought he, “This is great!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where an hour or two, pleasant walks he did view,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With Commanders and Squires in scarlet and blew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A fine dinner was drest, both for him and his guests,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He was placed at the table above all the rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In a rich chair or bed lined with fine crimson red,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a rich golden canopy over his head:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As he sat at his meat, the musick played sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With the choicest of singing his joys to compleat.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">While the Tinker did dine, he had plenty of wine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rich canary, with sherry and tent superfine.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like a right honest soul, faith, he took off his bowl.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till at last he began for to tumble and roul</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From his chair to the floor, where he sleeping did snore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Being seven times drunker than ever before.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the Duke did ordain, they should strip him amain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And restore him his old leather garments again:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’T was a point next the worst, yet perform it they must,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they carryed him strait where they found him at first:<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then he slept all the night, as indeed well he might;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But when he did waken, his joys took their flight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For his glory to him so pleasant did seem,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That he thought it to be but a meer golden dream;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till at length he was brought to the Duke, where he sought</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For a pardon, as fearing he had set him at nought:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But his Highness he said, “Thou’rt a jolly bold blade:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such a frolick before, I think, never was plaid.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then his Highness bespoke him a new suit and cloak,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which he gave for the sake of this frolicksome joak:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, and five-hundred pound, with ten acres of ground:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou shalt never,” said he, “range the counteries round,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Crying ‘old brass to mend,’ for I’ll be thy good friend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nay, and Joan thy sweet wife shall my Duchess attend.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the Tinker replyed; “What! must Joan my sweet bride</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Be a Lady in chariots of pleasure to ride?<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Must we have gold and land ev’ry day at command?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then I shall be a Squire, I well understand:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Well I thank your good grace, and your love I embrace;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I was never before in so happy a case!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="KING_JAMES_THE_FIRST"></a>KING JAMES THE FIRST AND THE TINKLER</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">And</span> now, to be brief, let’s pass over the rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who seldom or never were given to jest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And come to King Jamie, the first of our throne,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A pleasanter Monarch sure never was known.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As he was a-hunting the swift fallow-deer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He dropped all his nobles; and when he got clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In hope of some pastime away he did ride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till he came to an alehouse, hard by a wood-side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And there with a Tinkler he happened to meet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And him in kind sort he so freely did greet:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Pray thee, good fellow, what hast in thy jug,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which under thy arm thou dost lovingly hug?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“By the mass!” quoth the Tinkler, “it’s nappy brown ale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And for to drink to thee, friend, I will not fail;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For although thy jacket looks gallant and fine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I think that my twopence as good is as thine.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“By my soul! honest fellow, the truth thou hast spoke,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And straight he sat down with the Tinkler to joke;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They drank to the King, and they pledged to each other;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who’d seen ’em had thought they were brother and brother.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As they were a-drinking the King pleased to say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What news, honest fellow? come tell me, I pray?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“There’s nothing of news, beyond that I hear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The King’s on the border a-chasing the deer.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And truly I wish I so happy may be</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whilst he is a-hunting the King I might see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For although I’ve travelled the land many ways</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I never have yet seen a King in my days.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King, with a hearty brisk laughter, replied</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I tell thee, good fellow, if thou canst but ride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou shalt get up behind me, and I will thee bring</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the presence of Jamie, thy sovereign King.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But he’ll be surrounded with nobles so gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And how shall we tell him from them, sir, I pray?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou’lt easily ken him when once thou art there;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The King will be covered, his nobles all bare.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He got up behind him and likewise his sack,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His budget of leather, and tools at his back;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They rode till they came to the merry Greenwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His nobles came round him, bareheaded they stood.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Tinkler then seeing so many appear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He slily did whisper the King in his ear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saying, “They’re all clothed so gloriously gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But which amongst them is the King, sir, I pray?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King did with hearty good laughter, reply,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“By my soul! my good fellow, it’s thou or it’s I!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The rest are bareheaded, uncovered all round”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With his bag and his budget he fell to the ground,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Like one that was frightened quite out of his wits,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then on his knees he instantly gets,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beseeching for mercy; the King to him said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou art a good fellow, so be not afraid.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come, tell thy name.” “I am John of the Dale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A mender of kettles, a lover of ale.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Rise up, Sir John, I will honour thee here,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I make thee a Knight of three thousand a year!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This was a good thing for the Tinkler indeed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then unto the Court he was sent for with speed,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Where great store of pleasure and pastime was seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the royal presence of King and of Queen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir John of the Dale he has land, he has fee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At the Court of the King who so happy as he?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet still in his hall hangs the Tinkler’s old sack,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the budget of tools which he bore at his back.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="KING_ALFRED"></a>KING ALFRED AND THE SHEPHERD</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I—WHEREIN KING ALFRED FIGHTS FOR<br /> -HIS DINNER</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">In</span> elder time there was of yore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When gibes of churlish glee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were used among our country carles,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tho’ no such thing now be:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The which King Alfred liking well,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Forsook his stately Court,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And in disguise unknown went forth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To see that jovial sport;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">How Dick and Tom in clouted shoon,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And coats of russet grey,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Esteemed themselves more brave than them</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That went in golden ray.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In garments fit for such a life</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The good King Alfred went,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ragged and torn as from his back</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The beggar his clothes had rent.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A sword and buckler good and strong,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To give Jack Sauce a rap;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And on his head, instead of a crown,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He wore a Monmouth cap.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus coasting thorough Somersetshire:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Near Newton-Court he met</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A shepherd swain of lusty limb,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That up and down did jet:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He wore a bonnet of good grey,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Close-buttoned to his chin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And at his back a leather scrip,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With much good meat therein.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“God speed, good Shepherd,” quoth the King</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I come to be thy guest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To taste of thy good victuals here,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And drink that’s of the best.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thy scrip, I know hath cheer good store”:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“What then?” the Shepherd said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou seem’st to be some sturdy thief,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And mak’st me sore afraid.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yet if thou wilt thy dinner win,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy sword and buckler take:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, if thou canst, into my scrip</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Therewith an entrance make.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I tell thee, roister, it hath store</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of beef and bacon fat,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With sheaves of barley-bread to make</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy chaps to water at!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here stands my bottle, here my bag,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If thou canst win them, roister;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Against thy sword and buckler here,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My sheep-hook is my master.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Benedicite!</em>” quoth our good King</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“It never shall be said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That Alfred, of the Shepherd’s hook,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will stand a whit afraid.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So foundly thus they both fell to ‘t,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And giving bang for bang;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At ev’ry blow the Shepherd gave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">King Alfred’s sword cried <em>twang</em>!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His buckler proved his chiefest fence;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For still the Shepherd’s hook</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was that the which King Alfred could</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In no good manner brook.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At last, when they had fought four hours,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And it grew just midday,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And wearied both, with right good will,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Desired each other’s stay:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A truce, I crave,” quoth Alfred then</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Good Shepherd, hold thy hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A sturdier fellow than thyself</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lives not within the land!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Nor a lustier roister than thou art,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The churlish Shepherd said;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“To tell thee plain, thy thievish look</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now makes my heart afraid.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Else sure thou art some prodigal,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which hast consumed thy store,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now com’st wand’ring in this place</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To rob and steal for more.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Deem not of me, then,” quoth our King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Good Shepherd, in this sort.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A gentleman well known I am</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In good King Alfred’s Court.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II—WHEREIN KING ALFRED BECOMES<br /> -A SHEPHERD</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<span class="smcap">The Devil</span> thou art!” the Shepherd said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Thou go’st in rags all torn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou rather seem’st, I think, to be</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Some beggar basely born.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But if thou wilt mend thy estate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And here a shepherd be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At night, to Gillian, my sweet wife,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou shalt go home with me:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For she’s as good a toothless dame</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As mumbleth on brown bread;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where thou shalt lie in hurden sheets,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon a fresh straw bed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Of whig and whey we have good store,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And keep good pease-straw fire;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now and then good barley cakes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As better days require.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But for my master, which is Chief</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And Lord of Newton-Court,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He keeps, I say, his shepherd swains</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In far more braver sort;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We there have curds and clouted cream</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of red cow’s morning milk;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now and then fine buttered cakes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As soft as any silk.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Of beef and reifed bacon store,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That is most fat and greasy,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We have likewise, to feed our chaps</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And make them glib and easy.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thus if thou wilt my man become,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This usage thou shalt have;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If not, adieu; go hang thyself;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And so farewell, Sir Knave.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">King Alfred hearing of this glee</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The churlish Shepherd said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was well content to be his man;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So they a bargain made;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A penny round the Shepherd gave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In earnest of this match,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To keep his sheep in field and fold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As shepherds use to watch.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His wages shall be full ten groats,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For service of a year,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet was it not his use, old lad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To hire a man so dear:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For, did the King himself,” quoth he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Unto my cottage come,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He should not, for a twelve-month’s pay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Receive a greater sum.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART III—WHEREIN KING ALFRED BURNS THE CAKES</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Hereat</span> the bonny King grew blithe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To hear the clownish jest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How silly sots, as custom is,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Do descant at the best.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But not to spoil the foolish sport,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He was content, good King,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To fit the Shepherd’s humour right</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In ev’ry kind of thing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A sheep-hook then, with Patch his dog,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tar-box by his side;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He, with his master, cheek by jowl,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unto old Gillian hied,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Into whose sight no sooner come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Whom have you here?” quoth she,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“A fellow, I doubt, will cut our throats,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So like a knave looks he.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Not so, old Dame,” quoth Alfred straight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Of me you need not fear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My master hired me for ten groats,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To serve you one whole year:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So, good Dame Gillian, grant me leave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Within your house to stay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, by St. Anne, do what you can,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I will not yet away.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her churlish usage pleased him still,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And put him to such proof,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That he at night was almost choked</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Within that smoky roof.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But as he sat with smiling cheer</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The event of all to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His dame brought forth a piece of dough</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which in the fire throws she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Where lying on the hearth to bake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By chance, the cake did burn:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What! canst thou not, thou lout,” quoth she,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Take pains the same to turn?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou art more quick to take it out,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And eat it up half dough,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Than thus to stay till’t be enough,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And so thy manners show!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But serve me such another trick,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll thwack thee on the snout:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which made the patient King, poor man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of her to stand in doubt.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART IV—WHEREIN KING ALFRED BLOWS HIS<br /> -BUGLE-HORN<br /></h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">But</span>, to be brief, to bed they went</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The old man and his wife;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But never such a lodging had</div> - <div class="verse indent2">King Alfred in his life!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For he was laid in white sheep’s wool,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">New-pulled from tanned fells;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And o’er his head hanged spiders’ webs</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As if they had been bells.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Is this the country guise?” thought he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Then here I will not stay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But hence be gone, as soon as breaks</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The peeping of next day!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The cackling hens and geese kept roost,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And perched at his side;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where, at the last, the watchful cock</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Made known the morning tide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then up got Alfred, with his horn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And blew so long a blast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That it made Gillian and her groom,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In bed, full sore aghast.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Arise,” quoth she, “We are undone!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This night we lodged have,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At unawares, within our house,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A false dissembling knave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Rise! husband, rise! he’ll cut our throats!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He calleth for his mates.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d give, old Will, our good cade lamb,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He would depart our gates!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But still King Alfred blew his horn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before them, more and more,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till that an hundred Lords and Knights</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All lighted at the door.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who cried, “All hail! all hail, good King!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Long have we sought your Grace!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And here you find, my merry men all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your Sov’reign in this place.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We surely must be hanged up both,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Old Gillian, I much fear,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Shepherd said, “for using thus,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our good King Alfred here.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, pardon, my Liege!” quoth Gillian then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For my husband, and for me.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By these ten bones, I never thought</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The same that now I see!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And by my hook,” the Shepherd said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“An oath both good and true!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Before this time, O noble King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I ne’er your Highness knew!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Then pardon me and my old wife,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That we may after say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When first you came into our house,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It was a happy day.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“It shall be done,” said Alfred straight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And Gillian, thy old dame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For this her churlish using me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Deserveth not much blame;</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For ’tis thy country guise, I see,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To be thus bluntish still,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And where the plainest meaning is,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Remains the smallest ill.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And, Master, lo! I tell thee now;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For thy late manhood shown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A thousand wethers I’ll bestow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon thee, for thy own;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And pasture-ground, as much as will</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Suffice to feed them all:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And this thy cottage, I will change</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Into a stately hall.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And for the same, as duty binds,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Shepherd said, “good King,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A milk-white lamb, once ev’ry year,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll to your Highness bring:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And Gillian, my wife, likewise,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of wool to make you coats,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Will give you as much at New Year’s tide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As shall be worth ten groats.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And in your praise my bag-pipes shall</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sound sweetly once a year,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How Alfred, our renowned King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Most kindly hath been here.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thanks, Shepherd, thanks,” quoth he again:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“The next time I come hither,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My Lords with me, here in this house,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will all be merry together.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="SAD_GESTES">SAD GESTES</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE SANDS OF DEE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“O Mary, go and call the cattle home,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>And call the cattle home,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>And call the cattle home</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Across the sands of Dee;”</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The western wind was wild and dank wi’ foam,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And all alone went she.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The western tide crept up along the sand.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>And o’er and o’er the sand,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>And round and round the sand,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>As far as eye could see.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The rolling mist came down and hid the land—</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And never home came she.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair—</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>A tress o’ golden hair,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>A drowned maiden’s hair</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Above the nets at sea?</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Was never salmon yet that shone so fair</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Among the stakes on Dee.</em>”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>They rowed her in across the rolling foam.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>The cruel crawling foam.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent4"><em>The cruel hungry foam</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>To her grave beside the sea:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But still the boatmen hear her call the cattle home</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Across the sands of Dee!</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Charles Kingsley</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>FAIR ANNY OF ROCH-ROYAL</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<span class="smcap">O wha</span> will shoe my fu fair foot?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An wha will glove my han?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An wha will lace my middle gimp</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi the new made London ban?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Or wha will kemb my yallow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi the new made silver kemb?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or wha’ll be father to my young bairn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till Love Gregor come hame?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her father shoed her fu fair foot,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her mother glovd her han;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her sister lac’d her middle gimp</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi the new made London ban.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her brother kembd her yallow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi the new made silver kemb,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the king o heaven maun father her bairn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till Love Gregor come hame.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O gin I had a bony ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An men to sail wi me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It’s I would gang to my true-love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Since he winna come to me.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her father’s gien her a bonny ship,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An sent her to the stran;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s tane her young son in her arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An turnd her back to the lan.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She had na been o the sea saillin</div> - <div class="verse indent2">About a month or more,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till landed has she her bonny ship</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Near her true-love’s door.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The night was dark, an the win blew caul,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An her love was fast asleep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An the bairn that was in her twa arms</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fu sair began to weep.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Long stood she at her true-love’s door,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An lang tirld at the pin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length up gat his fa’se mither,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Says, “Wha’s that woud be in?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O it is Anny of Roch-royal,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your love, come oer the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But an your young son in her arms;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So open the door to me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Awa, awa, you ill woman,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">You’ve na come here for gude;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You’re but a witch, or wile warlock,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or mermaid o the flude.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m na a witch, or wile warlock,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor mermaiden,” said she;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m but Fair Anny o Roch-royal;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O open the door to me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O gin ye be Anny o Roch-royal,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As I trust not ye be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What taiken can ye gie that ever</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I kept your company?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O dinna ye mind, Love Gregor,” she says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Whan we sat at the wine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How we changed the napkins frae our necks,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It’s na sae lang sin syne?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“An yours was good, an good enough,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But nae sae good as mine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For yours was o the cumbruk clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But mine was silk sae fine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“An dinna ye mind, Love Gregor,” she says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“As we twa sat at dine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How we changed the rings frae our fingers,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But ay the best was mine?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For yours was good, an good enough,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Yet nae sae good as mine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For yours was of the good red gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But mine o the diamonds fine.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sae open the door now, Love Gregor,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An open it wi speed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or your young son that is in my arms</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For cauld will soon be dead.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Awa, awa, you ill woman,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gae frae my door for shame;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I hae gotten another fair love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sae ye may hye you hame.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O hae you gotten another fair love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For a’ the oaths you sware?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then fair you well now, fa’se Gregor,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For me you’s never see mair.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O heely, heely gi’d she back,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As the day began to peep;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She set her foot on good ship-board,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An sair, sair did she weep.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Love Gregor</span> started frae his sleep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An to his mither did say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I dreamd a dream this night, mither,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That maks my heart right wae.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I dreamd that Anny of Roch-royal,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The flowr o a’ her kin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was standin mournin at my door,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But nane would lat her in.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O there was a woman stood at the door,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi a bairn intill her arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But I woud na lat her within the bowr,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For fear she had done you harm.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O quickly, quickly raise he up,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An fast ran to the stran,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An there he saw her Fair Anny,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was sailin frae the lan.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An “Heigh, Anny!” an “Hou, Anny!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O Anny, speak to me!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ay the louder that he cried “Anny,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The louder roard the sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">An “Heigh, Anny!” an “Hou, Anny!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O Anny, winna you bide?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ay the langer that he cried “Anny,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The higher roard the tide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The win grew loud, an the sea grew rough,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An the ship was rent in twain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An soon he saw her Fair Anny</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come floating oer the main.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He saw his young son in her arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Baith tossd aboon the tide;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He wrang his hands, than fast he ran,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An plung’d i the sea sae wide.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He catchd her by the yallow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An drew her to the strand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But cauld an stiff was every limb</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before he reachd the land.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O first he kissd her cherry cheek,’</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An then he kissd her chin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An sair he kissd her ruby lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But there was nae breath within.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O he has mournd oer Fair Anny</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till the sun was gaing down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then wi a sigh his heart it brast,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An his soul to heaven has flown.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_CRUEL_SISTER"></a>THE CRUEL SISTER</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">There</span> were two sisters sat in a bour,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There came a knight to be their wooer;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He courted the eldest with glove and ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent16">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But he lo’ed the youngest abune a’ thing;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He courted the eldest with broach and knife,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But he lo’ed the youngest abune his life;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The eldest she was vexed sair,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sore envied her sister fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The eldest said to the youngest ane,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Will ye go and see your father’s ships come in?”—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s ta’en her by the lily hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And led her down to the river strand;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The youngest stude upon a stane,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The eldest came and pushed her in;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She took her by the middle sma’,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And dash’d her bonny back to the jaw;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O sister, sister, reach your hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ye shall be heir of half my land.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O sister, I’ll not reach my hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I’ll be heir of all your land;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Shame fa’ the hand that I should take,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It’s twin’d me, and my world’s make.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O sister, reach me but your glove,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sweet William shall be your love.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sink on, nor hope for hand or glove!</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sweet William shall better be my love,</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Your cherry cheeks and your yellow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Garr’d me gang maiden evermair.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent12">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sometimes she sunk, and sometimes she swam,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until she cam to the miller’s dam;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O father, father, draw your dam!</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s either a mermaid, or a milk-white swan.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The miller hasted and drew his dam,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there he found a drown’d woman;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You could not see her yellow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For gowd and pearls that were sae rare;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">You could na see her middle sma’.</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her gowden girdle was sae bra’;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A famous harper passing by,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sweet pale face he chanced to spy;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when he looked that lady on,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He sigh’d and made a heavy moan;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He made a harp of her breast-bone,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose sounds would melt a heart of stone;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The strings he framed of her yellow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose notes made sad the listening ear;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He brought it to her father’s hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there was the court assembled all;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He laid this harp upon a stone,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And straight it began to play alone!</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O yonder sits my father, the king,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And yonder sits my mother, the queen;</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And yonder stands my brother Hugh,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And by him my William, sweet and true.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But the last tune that the harp play’d then,</div> - <div class="verse indent14">Binnorie, O Binnorie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was—“Woe to my sister, false Helen!”—</div> - <div class="verse indent10">By the bonny milldams of Binnorie.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="BARBARA_ALLEN"></a>BARBARA ALLEN’S CRUELTY</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">In</span> Scarlet Town, where I was bound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There was a fair maid dwelling,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whom I had chosen to be my own,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And her name it was Barbara Allen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All in the merry month of May,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When green leaves they was springing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This young man on his death-bed lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For the love of Barbara Allen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He sent his man unto her then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the town where she was dwelling:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“You must come to my master dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If your name be Barbara Allen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For death is printed in his face,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sorrow’s in him dwelling,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And you must come to my master dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If your name be Barbara Allen.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If death be printed in his face,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sorrow’s in him dwelling,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then little better shall he be</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For bonny Barbara Allen.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So slowly, slowly she got up,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And so slowly she came to him,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And all she said when she came there,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Young man, I think you are a dying.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He turnd his face unto her then:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“If you be Barbara Allen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My dear,” said he, “come pitty me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As on my death-bed I am lying.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If on your death-bed you be lying,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What is that to Barbara Allen?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I cannot keep you from your death;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So farewell,” said Barbara Allen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He turnd his face unto the wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And death came creeping to him:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Then adieu, adieu, and adieu to all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And adieu to Barbara Allen!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And as she was walking on a day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She heard the bell a ringing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And it did seem to ring to her</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Unworthy Barbara Allen.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She turnd herself round about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And she spy’d the corps a coming:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Lay down, lay down the corps of clay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That I may look upon him.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And all the while she looked on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So loudly she lay laughing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While all her friends cry’d out amain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Unworthy Barbara Allen!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When he was dead, and laid in grave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then death came creeping to she:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O mother, mother, make my bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For his death hath quite undone me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A hard-hearted creature that I was,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To slight one that lovd me so dearly;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wish I had been more kinder to him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The time of his life when he was near me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So this maid she then did dye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And desired to be buried by him,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And repented her self before she dy’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever she did deny him.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="EARL_MARCH_LOOKED"></a>SONG: EARL MARCH LOOKED ON<br /> -HIS DYING CHILD</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Earl March</span> looked on his dying child,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And, smit with grief to view her,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The youth,” he cried, “whom I exiled</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall be restored to woo her.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s at the window many an hour</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His coming to discover:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her Love looked up to Ellen’s bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And she looked on her Lover.—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But ah! so pale, he knew her not,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Though her smile on him was dwelling.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And am I then forgot—forgot?”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It broke the heart of Ellen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In vain he weeps, in vain he sighs;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her cheek is cold as ashes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor Love’s own kiss shall wake those eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To lift their silken lashes.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Thomas Campbell</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="LORD_LOVEL"></a>LORD LOVEL</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Lord Lovel</span> he stood at his castle gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Combing his milk-white steed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When up came Lady Nancy Belle,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">To wish her lover good speed, speed,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">To wish her lover good speed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Where are you going, Lord Lovel?” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Oh! where are you going?” said she;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m going, my Lady Nancy Belle,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Strange countries for to see, to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Strange countries for to see.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“When will you be back, Lord Lovel?” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Oh! when will you come back?” said she;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“In a year or two—or three, at the most,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">I’ll return to my fair Nancy-cy,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">I’ll return to my fair Nancy.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But he had not been gone a year and a day,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Strange countries for to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When languishing thoughts came into his head,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Lady Nancy Belle he would go see, see,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Lady Nancy Belle he would go see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So he rode, and he rode on his milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Till he came to London-town;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there he heard St. Pancras’ bells,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And the people all mourning round, round,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And the people all mourning round.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! what is the matter?” Lord Lovel he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“Oh! what is the matter?” said he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“A Lord’s Lady is dead,” a woman replied,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">“And some call her Lady Nancy-cy,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And some call her Lady Nancy.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So he ordered the grave to be opened wide,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And the shroud he turned down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there he kissed her clay-cold lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Till the tears came trickling down, down,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Till the tears came trickling down.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Lady Nancy she died as it might be to-day,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Lord Lovel he died as to-morrow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Lady Nancy she died out of pure, pure grief,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Lord Lovel he died out of sorrow, sorrow,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Lord Lovel he died out of sorrow.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Lady Nancy was laid in St. Pancras’ church,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Lord Lovel was laid in the choir;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And out of her bosom there grew a red rose,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And out of her lover’s a brier, brier,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And out of her lover’s a brier.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They grew, and they grew, to the church steeple, too,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And then they could grow no higher;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So there they entwined in a true lover’s knot,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For all lovers true to admire-mire,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For all lovers true to admire.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="PRETTY_MAYS_AND_KNIGHTS_SO_BOLD">PRETTY MAYS AND KNIGHTS SO BOLD</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE NOBLE RIDDLE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>If thou canst answer me questions three,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>This very day will I marry thee.</em>”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Kind sir, in love, O then,” quoth she,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“Tell me what your three questions be.</em>”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>O what is longer than the way,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Or what is deeper than the sea?</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Or what is louder than the horn,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Or what is sharper than a thorn?</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>Or what is greener than the grass,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Or what is worse than a woman was?</em>”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>O love is longer than the way,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And hell is deeper than the sea.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>And thunder is louder than the horn,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And hunger is sharper than a thorn.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<em>And poyson is greener than the grass,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And the Devil is worse than woman was.</em>”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>When she these questions answered had,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>The knight became exceeding glad.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And having truly try’d her wit,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He much commended her for it.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And after, as it is verifi’d,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He made of her his lovely bride.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>So now, fair maidens all, adieu,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>This song I dedicate to you.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I wish that you may constant prove</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Vnto the man that you do love.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>BLANCHEFLOUR AND JELLYFLORICE</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">There</span> was a maid, richly arrayd,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In robes were rare to see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For seven years and something mair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She servd a gay ladie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But being fond o a higher place,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In service she thought lang;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She took her mantle her about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her coffer by the band.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And as she walkd by the shore-side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As blythe’s a bird on tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet still she gaz’d her round about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To see what she could see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At last she spied a little castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That stood near by the sea;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She spied it far and drew it near,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To that castle went she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when she came to that castle</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She tirled at the pin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ready stood a little wee boy</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To lat this fair maid in.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O who’s the owner of this place,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O porter-boy, tell me;”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“This place belongs unto a queen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O birth and high degree.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She put her hand in her pocket,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gae him shillings three:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O porter, bear my message well</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unto the queen frae me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The porter’s gane before the queen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fell low down on his knee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Win up, win up, my porter-boy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What makes this courtesie?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I hae been porter at your yetts,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My dame, these years full three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But see a ladie at your yetts</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fairest my eyes did see.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Cast up my yetts baith wide and braid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lat her come in to me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I’ll know by her courtesie</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lord’s daughter if she be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When she came in before the queen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fell low down on her knee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Service frae you, my dame the queen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I pray you grant it me.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If that service ye now do want,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What station will ye be?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Can ye card wool, or spin, fair maid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or milk the cows to me?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“No, I can neither card nor spin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor cows I canno milk,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But sit into a lady’s bower</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sew the seams o silk.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What is your name, ye comely dame?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pray tell this unto me:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Blancheflour, that is my name,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Born in a strange countrie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O keep ye well frae Jellyflorice—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My ain dear son is he—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When other ladies get a gift,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O that ye shall get three.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">It</span> wasna tald into the bower</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till it went thro the ha,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That Jellyflorice and Blancheflour</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Were grown ower great witha.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When the queen’s maids their visits paid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upo the gude Yule-day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When other ladies got horse to ride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She boud take foot and gae.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The queen she calld her stable-groom,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To come to her right seen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Says, “Ye’ll take out yon wild waith steed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bring him to the green.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye’ll take the bridle frae his head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The lighters frae his een;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ere she ride three times roun the cross,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her weel-days will be dune.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Jellyflorice his true-love spy’d</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As she rade roun the cross,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thrice he kissd her lovely lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And took her frae her horse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Gang to your bower, my lily-flower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For a’ my mother’s spite;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s nae other amang her maids,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In whom I take delight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye are my jewel, and only are,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nane’s do you injury;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For ere this-day-month come and gang</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My wedded wife ye’se be.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="GLENARA"></a>GLENARA</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Oh!</span> heard ye yon pibroch sound sad in the gale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where a band cometh slowly with weeping and wail?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis the Chief of Glenara laments for his dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her sire and the people are called to her bier.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Glenara came first, with the mourners and shroud;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her kinsmen they followed, but mourned not aloud.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their plaids all their bosoms were folded around;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They marched all in silence,—they looked on the ground.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In silence they reached, over mountain and moor,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To a heath, where the oak-tree grew lonely and hoar;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now here let us place the grey stone of her cairn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why speak ye no word?”—said Glenara the stern.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And tell me, I charge you! ye clan of my spouse,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why fold ye your mantles, why cloud ye your brows?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So spake the rude chieftain:—no answer is made,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But each mantle unfolding a dagger displayed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her shroud,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cried a voice from the kinsmen all, wrathful and loud:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And empty that shroud and that coffin did seem;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! pale grew the cheek of that chieftain, I ween,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the shroud was unclosed and no lady was seen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When a voice from the kinsmen spoke louder in scorn,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Twas the youth who had loved the fair Ellen of Lorn,—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I dreamt of my lady, I dreamt of her grief;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I dreamt that her lord was a barbarous Chief;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On a rock of the ocean fair Ellen did seem;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glenara! Glenara! now read me my dream!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In dust low the traitor has knelt to the ground;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the desert revealed where his lady was found;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From a rock of the ocean that beauty is borne,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now joy to the house of fair Ellen of Lorn!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Thomas Campbell</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_BEGGAR_MAID"></a>THE BEGGAR-MAID</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Her</span> arms across her breast she laid;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She was more fair than words can say;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Barefooted came the Beggar-maid</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before the King Cophetua.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In robe and crown the King stept down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To meet and greet her on her way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“It is no wonder,” said the Lords,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“She is more beautiful than day.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As shines the moon in clouded skies,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She in her poor attire was seen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One praised her ankles, one her eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One her dark hair and lovesome mien.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So sweet a face, such angel grace,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In all that land had never been.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cophetua sware a royal oath:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“This Beggar-maid shall be my Queen!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="LOCHINVAR"></a>LOCHINVAR</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Oh!</span> young Lochinvar is come out of the West;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through all the wide border his steed was the best;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And save his good broadsword he weapons had none,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There never was Knight like the young Lochinvar.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He staid not for brake, and he stopped not for stone,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He swam the Eske river where ford there was none;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ere he alighted at Netherby gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bride had consented, the gallant came late;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For a laggard in love, and a dastard in war,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers and all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then spoke the bride’s father, his hand on his sword,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">—For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied;—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now am I come with this lost love of mine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bride kissed the goblet; the Knight took it up,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She looked down to blush, and she looked up tosigh,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a smile on her lips, and a tear in her eye.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now tread we a measure,” said young Lochinvar.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So stately his form, and so lovely her face,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That never a hall such a galliard did grace;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While her mother did fret, and her father did fume,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the bride-maidens whispered, “’T were better by far,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">One touch to her hand, and one word in her ear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When they reached the hall-door, and the charger stood near;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So light to the saddle before her he sprung!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, andscaur;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They’ll have fleet steeds that follow,” quoth young Lochinvar.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There was mounting ’mong Græmes of the Netherby clan;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Forsters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the lost bride of Netherby ne’er did they see.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So daring in love, and so dauntless in war,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Have ye e’er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Sir Walter Scott</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE GAY GOSS-HAWK</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<span class="smcap">O waly</span>, waly, my gay goss-hawk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gin your feathering be sheen!”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And waly, waly, my master dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gin ye look pale and lean!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O have ye tint, at tournament,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your sword, or yet your spear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or mourn ye for the southern lass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whom ye may not win near?”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I have not tint, at tournament,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My sword, nor yet my spear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But sair I mourn for my true love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ mony a bitter tear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But weel’s me on ye, my gay goss-hawk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye can baith speak and flee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye sall carry a letter to my love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bring an answer back to me.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But how sall I your true love find,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or how suld I her know?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I bear a tongue ne’er wi’ her spake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An eye that ne’er her saw.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O weel sail ye my true love ken,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sae sune as ye her see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, of a’ the flowers of fair England,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fairest flower is she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The red that’s on my true love’s cheek,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is like blood-drops on the snaw;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The white that is on her breast bare,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like the down o’ the white sea-maw.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And even at my love’s bour-door</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There grows a flowering birk;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ye maun sit and sing thereon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As she gangs to the kirk.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And four-and-twenty fair ladyes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will to the mass repair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But weel may ye my ladye ken,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fairest ladye there.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Lord William</span> has written a love-letter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Put it under his pinion gray;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he is awa to Southern land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fast as wings can gae.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And even at that ladye’s bour</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There grew a flowering birk;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he sat down and sung thereon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As she gaed to the kirk.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And weel he kent that ladye fair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Amang her maidens free;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the flower, that springs in May morning,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was not sae sweet as she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He lighted at the ladye’s yate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sat him on a pin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sang fu’ sweet the notes o’ love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till a’ was cosh within.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And first he sang a low low note,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And syne he sang a clear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye the o’erword o’ the sang</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Was—“Your love can no win here.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Feast on, feast on, my maidens a’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The wine flows you amang,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While I gang to my shot-window,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hear yon bonny bird’s sang.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sing on, sing on, my bonny bird,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The sang ye sung yestreen;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For weel I ken, by your sweet singing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye are frae my true love sen.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O first he sang a merry sang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And syne he sang a grave;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And syne he pecked his feathers gray,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To her the letter gave.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Have there a letter from lord William;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He says he’s sent ye three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He canna wait your love langer,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But for your sake he’ll dee.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Gae bid him bake his bridal bread,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And brew his bridal ale;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I shall meet him at Mary’s kirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Lang, lang ere it be stale.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The lady’s gane to her chamber,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a moanfu’ woman was she;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As gin she had ta’en a sudden brash,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And were about to dee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A boon, a boon, my father dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A boon I beg of thee!”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ask not that paughty Scottish lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For him you ne’er shall see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But, for your honest asking else,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Weel granted it shall be.”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Then, gin I die in Southern land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Scotland gar bury me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And the first kirk that ye come to,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye’s gar the mass be sung;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the next kirk that ye come to,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye’s gar the bells be rung.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And when ye come to St. Mary’s kirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye’s tarry there till night.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And so her father pledg’d his word,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And so his promise plight.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">She</span> has ta’en her to her bigly bour</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As fast as she could fare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she has drank a sleepy draught,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That she had mix’d wi’ care.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And pale, pale grew her rosy cheek,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That was sae bright of blee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she seem’d to be as surely dead</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As any one could be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then spak her cruel step-minnie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Tak ye the burning lead,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And drap a drap on her bosome,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To try if she be dead.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They took a drap o’ boiling lead,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They drapp’d it on her breast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Alas! alas!” her father cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“She’s dead without the priest.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She neither chatter’d with her teeth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor shiver’d with her chin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Alas! alas!” her father cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“There is nae breath within.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then up arose her seven brethren.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hew’d to her a bier;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They hew’d it frae the solid aik,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Laid it o’er wi’ silver clear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then up and gat her seven sisters,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sewed to her a kell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And every steek that they put in</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sewed to a siller bell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The first Scots kirk that they cam to,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They garr’d the bells be rung;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The next Scots kirk that they cam to,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They garr’d the mass be sung.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But when they cam to St. Mary’s kirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There stude spearmen all on a raw;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And up and started lord William,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The chieftane amang them a’.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Set down, set down the bier,” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Let me look her upon:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But as soon as lord William touch’d her hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her colour began to come.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She brightened like the lily flower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till her pale colour was gone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With rosy cheik, and ruby lip,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She smiled her love upon.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A morsel of your bread, my lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And one glass of your wine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I hae fasted these three lang days,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All for your sake and mine.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Gae hame, gae hame, my seven bauld brothers,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gae hame and blaw your horn!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I trow ye wad hae gi’en me the skaith,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But I’ve gi’en you the scorn.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Commend me to my gray father,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That wished my saul gude rest;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But wae be to my cruel step-dame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Garr’d burn me on the breast.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ah! woe to you, you light woman!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An ill death may you dee!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For we left father and sisters at hame</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Breaking their hearts for thee.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="BONNY_BABY_LIVINGSTON"></a>BONNY BABY LIVINGSTON</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">O bonny</span> Baby Livingston</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Went forth to view the hay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And by it came him Glenlion,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sta bonny Baby away.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O first he’s taen her silken coat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And neest her satten gown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Syne rowd her in a tartan plaid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hapd her round and rown,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He has set her upon his steed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And roundly rode away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And neer loot her look back again</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The live-long summer’s day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s carried her oer hills and muirs</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till they came to a Highland glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there he’s met his brother John,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With twenty armed men.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O there were cows, and there were ewes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And lasses milking there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Baby neer anse lookd about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her heart was filld wi care.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Glenlion took her in his arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And kissd her, cheek and chin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Says, “I’d gie a’ these cows and ewes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But ae kind look to win.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O ae kind look ye neer shall get,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor win a smile frae me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Unless to me you’ll favour shew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And take me to Dundee.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Dundee, Baby? Dundee, Baby?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Dundee you neer shall see</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till I’ve carried you to Glenlion</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And have my bride made thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We’ll stay a while at Auchingour,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And get sweet milk and cheese,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And syne we’ll gang to Glenlion,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And there live at our ease.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I winna stay at Auchingour,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor eat sweet milk and cheese,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor go with thee to Glenlion,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For there I’ll neer find ease.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Than out it spake his brother John,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“O were I in your place,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d take that lady hame again,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For a’ her bonny face.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Commend me to the lass that’s kind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tho na so gently born;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, gin her heart I coudna gain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To take her hand I’d scorn.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O had your tongue now, John,” he says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“You wis na what you say;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I’ve lood that bonny face</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This twelve month and a day.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And tho I’ve lood her lang and sair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A smile I neer coud win;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet what I’ve got anse in my power</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To keep I think nae sin.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">When</span> they came to Glenlion castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They lighted at the yate,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And out it came his sisters three,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wha did them kindly greet.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O they’ve taen Baby by the hands</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And led her oer the green,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ilka lady spake a word,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But bonny Baby spake nane.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then out it spake her bonny Jean,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The youngest o the three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O lady, dinna look sae sad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But tell your grief to me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O wherefore should I tell my grief,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Since lax I canna find?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’m stown frae a’ my kin and friends,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And my love I left behind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But had I paper, pen, and ink,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before that it were day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I yet might get a letter sent</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In time to Johny Hay.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O she’s got paper, pen, and ink,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And candle that she might see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she has written a broad letter</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Johny at Dundee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And she has gotten a bonny boy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That was baith swift and strang,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wi philabeg and bonnet blue,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her errand for to gang.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O boy, gin ye’d my blessing win</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And help me in my need,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Run wi this letter to my love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bid him come wi speed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And here’s a chain of good red gowd,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gowdn guineas three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when you’ve well your errand done,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">You’ll get them for your fee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The boy he ran oer hill and dale,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fast as a bird coud flee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And eer the sun was twa hours height</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The boy was at Dundee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when he came to Johny’s door</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He knocked loud and sair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Johny to the window came,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And loudly cry’d, “Wha’s there?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O here’s a letter I have brought,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which ye maun quickly read,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, gin ye woud your lady save,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gang back wi me wi speed.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O when he had the letter read,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An angry man was he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He says, “Glenlion, thou shalt rue</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This deed of villany!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O saddle to me the black, the black,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O saddle to me the brown,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O saddle to me the swiftest steed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That eer rade frae the town.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And arm ye well, my merry men a’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And follow me to the glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I vow I’ll neither eat nor sleep</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till I get my love again.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s mounted on a milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The boy upon a gray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they got to Glenlion’s castle</div> - <div class="verse indent2">About the close of day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As Baby at her window stood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The west wind salt did bla;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She heard her Johny’s well-kent voice</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beneath the castle wa.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Baby, haste, the window jump!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll kep you in my arm;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My merry men a’ are at the yate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To rescue you frae harm.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She to the window fixt her sheets</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And slipped safely down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Johny catchd her in his arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Neer loot her touch the ground.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When mounted on her Johny’s horse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fou blithely did she say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Glenlion, you hae lost your bride!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She’s aff wi Johny Hay.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Glenlion</span> and his brother John</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Were birling in the ha,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When they heard Johny’s bridle ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As first he rade awa.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Rise, Jock, gang out and meet the priest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I hear his bridle ring;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My Baby now shall be my wife</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before the laverocks sing.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O brother, this is not the priest;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I fear he’ll come oer late;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For armed men with shining brands</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stand at the castle-yate.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Haste Donald, Duncan, Dugald, Hugh!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Haste, take your sword and spier!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We’ll gar these traytors rue the hour</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That eer they ventured here.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Highland men drew their claymores,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gae a warlike shout,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Johny’s merry men kept the yate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nae are durst venture out.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The lovers rade the live-lang night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And safe gat on their way,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bonny Baby Livingston</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Has gotten Johny Hay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Awa, Glenlion! fy for shame!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gae hide ye in some den!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You’ve lettn your bride be stown frae you,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For a’ your armed men.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="HYND_HORN"></a>HYND HORN</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Near</span> the King’s Court was a young child born,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And his name it was called Young Hynd Horn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Seven lang years he served the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And it’s a’ for the sake o’ his daughter Jean,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King an angry man was he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He sent Young Hynd Horn to the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! his Love gave him a gay gold ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With three shining diamonds set therein,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“As lang as these diamonds keep their hue,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye’ll know I am a lover true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But when your ring turns pale and wan,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then I’m in love with another man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s gone to the sea and far away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he’s stayed for seven lang years and a day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Seven lang years by land and sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he’s aften looked how his ring may be,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">One day when he looked this ring upon,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shining diamonds were pale and wan,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He hoisted sails, and hame cam’ he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hame unto his ain countrie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s left the sea and he’s come to land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the first he met was an auld beggar-man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What news, what news, my silly auld man?</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For it’s seven lang years since I saw this land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“No news, no news,” doth the beggar-man say,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“But our King’s ae daughter she’s wedded to-day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Wilt thou give to me thy begging coat?</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I’ll give to thee my scarlet cloak,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Give me your auld pike-staff, and hat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ye sall be right weel paid for that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The auld beggar-man cast off his coat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he’s ta’en up the scarlet cloak,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s gi’en him his auld pike-staff and hat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he was right weel paid for that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The auld beggar-man was bound for the mill,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Young Hynd Horn for the King’s ain hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When he came to the King’s ain gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He asked a drink for Young Hynd Horn’s sake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">These news unto the bonny bride cam’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That at the gate there stands an auld man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There stands an auld man at the King’s gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He asketh a drink for Young Hynd Horn’s sake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Bride cam’ tripping down the stair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The combs o’ fine goud in her hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A cup o’ the red wine in her hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And that she gave to the beggar-man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Out o’ the cup he drank the wine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And into the cup he dropt the ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O gat thou this by sea or by land?</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or gat thou it aff a dead man’s hand?</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I gat it neither by sea nor land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor gat I it from a dead man’s hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But I gat it at my wooing gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I gie it to you on your wedding-day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll cast aside my satin goun,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I’ll follow you frae toun to toun,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll tak’ the fine goud frae my hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And follow you forevermair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He let his cloutie cloak doun fa’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Young Hynd Horn shone above them a’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bridegroom thought he had her wed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With a hey lillelu and a how lo lan</em>;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But she is Young Hynd Horn’s instead,</div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And the birk and the broom blooms bonnie</em>.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Arranged by William Allingham</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>YOUNG BEICHAN AND SUSIE PYE</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">In</span> London was young Beichan born,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He longed strange countries for to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But he was taen by a savage Moor,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who handled him right cruellie;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For he viewed the fashions of that land;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their way of worship viewed he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But to Mahound, or Termagant,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Would Beichan never bend a knee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So in every shoulder they’ve putten a bore;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In every bore they’ve putten a tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they have made him trail the wine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And spices on his fair bodie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They’ve casten him in a dungeon deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where he could neither hear nor see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For seven years they kept him there,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till he for hunger’s like to die.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This Moor he had but ae daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her name was called Susie Pye;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And every day as she took the air,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Near Beichan’s prison she passed by.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O so it fell, upon a day</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She heard young Beichan sadly sing:</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My hounds they all go masterless;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>My hawks they flee from tree to tree;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My younger brother will heir my land;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Fair England again I’ll never see!</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All night long no rest she got,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Young Beichan’s song for thinking on;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s stown the keys from her father’s head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And to the prison strong is gone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And she has opend the prison doors,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I wot she opend two or three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ere she could come young Beichan at,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He was locked up so curiouslie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But when she came young Beichan before,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sore wonderd he that may to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He took her for some fair captive;—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Fair Lady, I pray, of what countrie?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O have ye any lands,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Or castles in your own countrie,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That ye could give to a lady fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From prison strong to set you free?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Near London town I have a hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With other castles two or three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll give them all to the lady fair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That out of prison will set me free.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Give me the truth of your right hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The truth of it give unto me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That for seven years ye’ll no lady wed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unless it be along with me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll give thee the truth of my right hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The truth of it I’ll freely gie,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That for seven years I’ll stay unwed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For the kindness thou dost show to me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s gi’en him to eat the good spice-cake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She’s gi’en him to drink the blood-red wine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s bidden him sometimes think on her,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That sae kindly freed him out of pine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s broken a ring from her finger,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And to Beichan half of it gave she:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Keep it, to mind you of that love</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The lady bore that set you free.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And set your foot on good ship-board,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And haste ye back to your own countrie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And before that seven years have an end,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come back again, love, and marry me.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">But</span> long ere seven years had an end,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She longd full sore her love to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For ever a voice within her breast</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said, “Beichan has broke his vow to thee.”<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">So she’s set her foot on good ship-board,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And turnd her back on her own countrie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She sailed east, she sailed west,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till to fair England’s shore she came;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where a bonny shepherd she espied,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Feeding his sheep upon the plain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What news, what news, thou bonny shepherd?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What news hast thou to tell to me?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Such news I hear, ladie,” he says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“The like was never in this countrie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There is a wedding in yonder hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Has lasted these thirty days and three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Young Beichan will not wed his bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For love of one that’s yond the sea.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s put her hand in her pocket,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gi’en him the gold and white monie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Hae, take ye that, my bonny boy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For the good news thou tell’st to me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When she came to young Beichan’s gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She tirled softly at the pin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So ready was the proud porter</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To open and let this lady in.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Is this young Beichan’s hall,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Or is that noble lord within?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yea, he’s in the hall among them all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And this is the day o’ his weddin.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And has he wed anither love?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And has he clean forgotten me?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sighin’ said that gay ladie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I wish I were in my own countrie!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And she has taen her gay gold ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That with her love she break so free;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Says, “Gie him that, ye proud porter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bid the bridegroom speak to me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When the porter came his lord before,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He kneeled down low on his knee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What aileth thee, my proud porter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou art so full of courtesie?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ve been porter at your gates,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It’s thirty long years now and three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But there stands a lady at them now,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The like o’ her did I never see;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For on every finger she has a ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And on her mid-finger she has three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And as meickle gold aboon her brow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As would buy an earldom to me.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Its out then spak the bride’s mother,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Aye, and an angry woman was shee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ye might have excepted our bonny bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And twa or three of our companie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O hold your tongue, thou bride’s mother,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of all your folly let me be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She’s ten times fairer nor the bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all that’s in your companie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“She begs one sheave of your white bread,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But and a cup of your red wine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And to remember the lady’s love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That last reliev’d you out of pine.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O well-a-day!” said Beichan then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That I so soon have married thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For it can be none but Susie Pye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That sailed the sea for love of me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And quickly hied he down the stair;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of fifteen steps he made but three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s taen his bonny love in his arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And kist and kist her tenderlie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O hae ye taen anither bride?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hae ye quite forgotten me?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hae ye quite forgotten her,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That gave you life and libertie?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She looked o’er her left shoulder,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To hide the tears stood in her e’e:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now fare thee well, young Beichan,” she says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I’ll try to think no more on thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O never, never, Susie Pye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For surely this can never be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor ever shall I wed but her</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That’s done and dree’d so much for me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then out and spak the forenoon bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“My lord, your love it changeth soon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This morning I was made your bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And another chose ere it be noon.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O hold thy tongue, thou forenoon bride,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My true love, thou canst never be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And whan ye return to your own countrie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A double dower I’ll send with thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s taen Susie Pye by the white hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gently led her up and down;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ay as he kist her red rosy lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Ye’re welcome, jewel, to your own.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s taen her by the milk-white hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And led her to yon fountain stane;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He’s changed her name from Susie Pye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he’s call’d her his bonny love, Lady Jane.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right">(<em>Condensed</em>)</p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE CHILD OF ELLE</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">On</span> yonder hill a castle stands,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With walls and towers bedight,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And yonder lives the Child of Elle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A young and comely Knight.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Child of Elle to his garden went,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And stood at his garden pale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When, lo! he beheld Fair Emmeline’s page</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come tripping down the dale.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Child of Elle he hied him thence</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Y-wis he stood not still,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon he met Fair Emmeline’s page</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come climbing up the hill.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now Christ thee save, thou little foot-page!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now Christ thee save and see!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! tell me how does thy Lady gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And what may thy tidings be?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My Lady, she is all woe-begone,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the tears they fall from her eyne;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye she laments the deadly feud</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Between her house and thine.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And here she sends thee a silken scarf,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bedewed with many a tear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bids thee sometimes think on her,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who loved thee so dear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And here she sends thee a ring of gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The last boon thou mayst have,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bids thee wear it for her sake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When she is laid in grave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For, ah! her gentle heart is broke,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And in grave soon must she be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sith her father hath chose her a new, new love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And forbid her to think of thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Her father hath brought her a carlish Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir John of the North Countraye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And within three days she must him wed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or he vows he will her slay.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, hie thee back, thou little foot-page,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And greet thy Lady from me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And tell her that I, her own true love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Will die or set her free.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, hie thee back, thou little foot-page,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And let thy fair Lady know,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This night will I be at her bower-window</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Betide me weal or woe!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The boy he tripped, the boy he ran,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He neither stint nor stayed</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until he came to Fair Emmeline’s bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When kneeling down he said:—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Lady, I’ve been with thy own true love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he greets thee well by me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This night will he be at thy bower-window,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And die or set thee free.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Now</span> day was gone, and night was come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all were fast asleep,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All save the Lady Emmeline,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who sate in her bower to weep:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon she heard her true love’s voice</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Low whispering at the wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Awake! awake! my dear Lady,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis I, thy true love call.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Awake! awake! my Lady dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come, mount this fair palfray;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This ladder of ropes will let thee down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll carry thee hence away.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now nay, now nay, thou gentle Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now nay, this may not be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For aye should I tint my maiden fame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If alone I should wend with thee.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Lady, thou with a Knight so true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Mayst safely wend alone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To my lady-mother I will thee bring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where marriage shall make us one.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My father he is a Baron bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of lineage proud and high;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And what would he say, if his daughter</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Away with a Knight should fly?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ah! well I wot, he never would rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor his meat should do him no good,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till he had slain thee, Child of Elle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And seen thy dear heart’s blood!”.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Lady, wert thou in thy saddle set,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a little space him fro,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I would not care for thy cruel father,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor the worst that he could do.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O Lady, wert thou in thy saddle set,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And once without this wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I would not care for thy cruel father,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor the worst that might befall.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Emmeline sighed, Fair Emmeline wept,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And aye her heart was woe:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length he seized her lily-white hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And down the ladder he drew.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And thrice he clasped her to his breast,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And kissed her tenderly,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The tears that fell from her fair eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ran like the fountain free.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He mounted himself on his steed so tall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And her on a fair palfray,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And slung his bugle about his neck,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And roundly they rode away.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All this beheard her own damsel,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In her bed whereas she lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quoth she, “My Lord shall know of this,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So I shall have gold and fee!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Awake! awake! thou Baron bold!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Awake! my noble Dame!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Your daughter is fled with the Child of Elle</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To do the deed of shame!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Baron he woke, the Baron he rose,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And called his merry men all:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“And come thou forth, Sir John the Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady is carried to thrall!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Fair Emmeline</span> scant had ridden a mile,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A mile forth of the town,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When she was aware of her father’s men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come galloping over the down.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And foremost came the carlish Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir John of the North Countraye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now stop! now stop! thou false traitor,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor carry that Lady away!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For she is come of high lineage,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And was of a Lady born,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ill it beseems thee, a false churl’s son,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To carry her hence to scorn!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now loud thou liest, Sir John the Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now thou dost lie of me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My father’s a Knight, a Lady me bore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So never did none by thee!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But light now down, my Lady fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Light down, and hold my steed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While I and this discourteous Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Do try this arduous deed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But light now down, my dear Lady,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Light down, and hold my horse;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While I and this discourteous Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Do try our valour’s force.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Emmeline sighed, Fair Emmeline wept,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And aye her heart was woe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While twixt her love and the carlish Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Passed many a baleful blow.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Child of Elle, he fought so well,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As his weapon he waved amain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That soon he had slain the carlish Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And laid him upon the plain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And now the Baron and all his men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Full fast approached nigh:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah! what may Lady Emmeline do?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Twere now no boot to fly!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her lover, he put his horn to his mouth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And blew both loud and shrill,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon he saw his own merry men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come riding over the hill.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now hold thy hand, thou bold Baron,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I pray thee, hold thy hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor ruthless rend two gentle hearts</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fast knit in true love’s band.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thy daughter I have dearly loved,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Full long and many a day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But with such love as holy Kirk</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hath freely said we may.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! give consent she may be mine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bless a faithful pair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My lands and livings are not small,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My house and lineage fair.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My mother she was an Earl’s daughter,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a noble Knight my sire—”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Baron he frowned, and turned away</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With mickle dole and ire.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Emmeline sighed, Fair Emmeline wept,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And did all trembling stand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length she sprang upon her knee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And held his lifted hand.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Pardon, my Lord and Father dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This fair young Knight and me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Trust me, but for the carlish Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I never had fled from thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oft have you called your Emmeline,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your darling and your joy;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! let not then your harsh resolves</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your Emmeline destroy.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Baron he stroked his dark-brown cheek,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And turned his head aside</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To wipe away the starting tear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He proudly strave to hide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In deep revolving thought he stood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And mused a little space:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then raised Fair Emmeline from the ground,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With many a fond embrace.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here, take her, Child of Elle,” he said</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gave her lily hand:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here, take my dear and only child,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And with her half my land.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thy father once mine honour wronged</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In days of youthful pride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Do thou the injury repair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In fondness for thy bride.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And as thou love her, and hold her dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Heaven prosper thee and thine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now my blessing wend wi’ thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My lovely Emmeline.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Attributed in part to Bishop Percy</em><br /> -<span class="padr2h">(<em>In modern spelling</em>)</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="FOR_HALLOWEEN_AND_MIDSUMMER_EVE">FOR HALLOWEEN AND MIDSUMMER EVE</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE SPELL</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>At eve last Midsummer, no sleep I sought,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But to the field a bag of Hempseed brought;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I scattered round the seed on every side,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And three times in a trembling accent cried:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>“This Hempseed with my virgin hand I sow,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Who shall my True-love be, the crop shall mow!”</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I straight looked back, and if my eyes speak truth,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>With his keen scythe behind me came the youth!</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With my sharp heel I three times mark the ground,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And turn me thrice, around, around, around!</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Last May-day Fair, I searched to find a Snail,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>That might my secret Lover’s name reveal.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Two Hazel-nuts I threw into the flame,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And to each nut I gave a sweetheart’s name.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>This with the loudest bounce me sore amazed,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>That in a flame of brightest colour blazed.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With my sharp heel, I three times mark the ground,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And turn me thrice, around, around, around!</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>This mellow Pippin which I pare around,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>My Shepherd’s name shall flourish on the ground.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>I fling the unbroken paring o’er my head,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Upon the grass a perfect L is read.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Yet on my heart a fairer L is seen</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Than what the paring marks upon the green.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>With my sharp heel, I three times mark the ground,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And turn me thrice, around, around, around!</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>John Gay. (Condensed)</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE YOUNG TAMLANE</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<span class="smcap">O I forbid</span> ye, maidens a’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That wear gowd on your hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To come or gae by Carterhaugh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For young Tamlane is there.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But up then spake her, fair Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fairest o’ a’ her kin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll cum and gang to Carterhaugh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ask nae leave o’ him.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Janet has kilted her green kirtle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A little abune her knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she has braided her yellow hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A little abune her bree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when she came to Carterhaugh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She gaed beside the well;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there she fand his steed standing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But awa was himsell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She hadna pu’d a red red rose,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A rose but barely three;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till up and starts a wee wee man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At lady Janet’s knee.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Says—“Why pu’ ye the rose, Janet?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What gars ye break the tree?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or why come ye to Carterhaugh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Withouten leave o’ me?”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Says—“Carterhaugh it is mine ain;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My daddie gave it me:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll come and gang to Carterhaugh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ask nae leave o’ thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The truth ye’ll tell to me, Tamlane:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A word ye mauna lie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gin e’er ye was in haly chapel,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or sained in Christentie?”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The truth I’ll tell to thee, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A word I winna lee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My father’s a knight, a lady me bore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As well as they did thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Randolph, earl Murray, was my sire,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Dunbar, earl March, is thine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We loved when we were children small,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which yet you well may mind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“When I was a boy just turn’d of nine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My uncle sent for me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To hunt, and hawk, and ride with him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And keep him cumpanie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There came a wind out of the north,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A sharp wind and a snell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a dead sleep came over me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And frae my horse I fell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The Queen of Fairies keppit me</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In yon green hill to dwell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I’m a fairy, lyth and limb;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fair ladye, view me well.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But we, that live in Fairy-land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No sickness know nor pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I quit my body when I will,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And take to it again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I quit my body when I please,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or unto it repair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We can inhabit at our ease,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In either earth or air.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Our shapes and size we can convert</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To either large or small;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An old nut-shell’s the same to us</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As is the lofty hall.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We sleep in rose-buds soft and sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We revel in the stream;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We wanton lightly on the wind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or glide on a sunbeam.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And all our wants are well supplied</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From every rich man’s store,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who thankless sins the gifts he gets,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And vainly grasps for more.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Then I would never tire, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Elfish land to dwell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But aye, at every seven years,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They pay the teind to hell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I am sae fat and fair of flesh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I fear’t will be mysell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“This night is Hallowe’en, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The morn is Hallowday;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, gin ye dare your true love win,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye na hae time to stay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The night it is good Hallowe’en,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When fairy folk will ride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they that wad their true love win</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At Miles Cross they maun bide.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But how shall I thee ken, Tamlane?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or how shall I thee knaw,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Amang so many unearthly knights,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The like I never saw?”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The first company that passes by,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span> - <div class="verse indent2">Say na, and let them gae;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The next company that passes by,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Say na, and do right sae;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The third company that passes by,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then I’ll be ane o’ thae.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“First let pass the black, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And syne let pass the brown;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But grip ye to the milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And pu’ the rider down.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For I ride on the milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And aye nearest the town;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Because I was a christen’d knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They gave me that renown.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My right hand will be gloved, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My left hand will be bare;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And these the tokens I gie thee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nae doubt I will be there.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An adder and a snake;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But haud me fast, let me not pass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gin ye wad be my maik.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">An adder and an ask;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A bale that burns fast.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll turn me in your arms, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A red-hot gad o’ airn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But haud me fast, let me not pass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For I’ll do you no harm.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And, next, they’ll shape me in your arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A tod, but and an eel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But haud me fast, nor let me gang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As you do love me weel.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“They’ll shape me in your arms, Janet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A dove, but and a swan;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, last, they’ll shape me in your arms</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A mother-naked man:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cast your green mantle over me—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll be myself again.”—</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Gloomy</span>, gloomy, was the night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And eiry was the way,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As fair Janet in her green mantle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Miles Cross she did gae.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The heavens were black, the night was dark,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And dreary was the place;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But Janet stood, with eager wish,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her lover to embrace.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Betwixt the hours of twelve and one,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A north wind tore the bent;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And straight she heard strange elritch sounds,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon that wind which went.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">About the dead hour o’ the night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She heard the bridles ring;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Janet was as glad o’ that</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As any earthly thing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Their oaten pipes blew wondrous shrill.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The hemlock small blew clear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And louder notes from hemlock large,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bog-reed, struck the ear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But solemn sounds, or sober thoughts,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Fairies cannot bear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They sing, inspired with love and joy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like skylarks in the air;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of solid sense, or thought that’s grave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">You’ll find no traces there.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair Janet stood, with mind unmoved,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The dreary heath upon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And louder, louder wax’d the sound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As they came riding on.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Will o’ Wisp before them went,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sent forth a twinkling light;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon she saw the fairy bands</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All riding in her sight.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And first gaed by the black, black steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And then gaed by the brown;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But fast she gript the milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And pu’d the rider down.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She pu’d him frae the milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And loot the bridle fa’;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And up there raise an erlish cry—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“He’s won amang us a’!”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They shaped him in fair Janet’s arms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A tod, but and an eel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She held him fast in every shape—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As she did love him weel.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They shaped him in her arms at last,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A mother-naked man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She wrapt him in her green mantle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sae her true love wan!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Up then spake the queen o’ fairies,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out o’ a bush o’ broom—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“She that has borrow’d young Tamlane,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Has gotten a stately groom.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Up then spake the queen o’ Fairies,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Out o’ a bush o’ rye—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“She’s ta’en awa the bonniest knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In a’ my cumpanie.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But had I kenn’d, Tamlane,” she says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“A ladye wad borrow’d thee—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wad ta’en out thy twa grey een,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Put in twa een o’ tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Had I but kenn’d, Tamlane,” she says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Before ye came frae hame—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wad ta’en out your heart o’ flesh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Put in a heart o’ stane.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Had I but had the wit yestreen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That I hae coft the day—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d paid my kane seven times to hell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ere you’d been won away!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right">(<em>Condensed</em>)</p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_WIFE_OF_USHER"></a>THE WIFE OF USHER’S WELL</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">There</span> lived a wife at Usher’s Well,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a wealthy wife was she,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She had three stout and stalwart sons,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sent them o’er the sea.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They hadna been a week from her,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A week but barely ane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When word came back to the carline wife,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That her three sons were gane.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>[264]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They hadna been a week from her,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A week but barely three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When word came to the carline wife,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That her sons she’d never see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I wish the wind may never cease,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor fashes in the flood,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till my three sons come hame to me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In earthly flesh and blood!”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It fell about the Martinmas,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When nights are lang and mirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The carline wife’s three sons cam hame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And their hats were o’ the birk.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It neither grew in syke nor ditch,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor yet in ony sheugh;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But at the gates o’ Paradise,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That birk grew fair eneuch.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Blow up the fire, my maidens!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bring water from the well!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For a’ my house shall feast this night,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Since my three sons are well.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And she has made to them a bed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She’s made it large and wide;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she’s ta’en her mantle her about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sat down at the bedside.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>[265]</span>Up then crew the red red cock,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And up and crew the gray;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The eldest to the youngest said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“’Tis time we were away.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The cock he hadna craw’d but ance,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And clapp’d his wings at a’,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When the youngest to the eldest said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Brother, we must awa.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The cock doth craw, the day doth daw</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The channerin’ worm doth chide;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gin we be mist out o’ our place,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A sair pain we maun bide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Fare ye weel, my mother dear!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fareweel to barn and byre!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And fare ye weel, the bonny lass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That kindles my mother’s fire.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="SIR_ROLAND"></a>SIR ROLAND</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Whan</span> he cam to his ain luve’s bouir,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He tirled at the pin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sae ready was his fair fause luve</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To rise and let him in.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! welcome, welcome, Sir Roland,” she says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Thrice welcome thou art to me;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">For this night thou wilt feast in my secret bouir</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And to-morrow we’ll wedded be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“This night is Hallow Eve,” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And to-morrow is Hallow-day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And I dreamed a drearie dream yestreen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That has made my heart fu’ wae.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I dreamed a drearie dream yestreen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I wish it may come to gude;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I dreamed that ye slew my best grew hound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gied me his lappered blude.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Unbuckle your belt, Sir Roland,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And set you safely down.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! your chamber is very dark, fair maid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the night is wondrous lown.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yes, dark dark is my secret bowir,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And lown the midnight may be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For there is none waking in a’ this tower</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But thou, my true love, and me.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="r20a" /> -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She has mounted on her true love’s steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By the ae light o’ the moon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She has whipped him and spurred him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And roundly she rade frae the toun.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She hadna ridden a mile o’ gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Never a mile but ane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whan she was aware of a tall young man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Slow riding o’er the plain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She turned her to the right about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then to the left turned she;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But aye ’tween her and the wan moonlight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That tall Knight did she see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And he was riding burd alane,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On a horse as black as jet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But tho’ she followed him fast and fell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No nearer could she get.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh stop! Oh stop! young man,” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For I in dule am dight;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh stop, and win a fair lady’s luve,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If you be a leal true Knight.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But nothing did the tall Knight say,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And nothing did he blin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still slowly rode he on before</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And fast she rade behind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She whipped her steed, she spurred her steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till his breast was all a foam;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But nearer unto that tall young Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady, she could not come.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, if you be a gay young Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As well I trow you be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pull tight your bridle reins, and stay</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till I come up to thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But nothing did that tall Knight say,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And no whit did he blin,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until he reached a broad river’s side</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And there he drew his rein.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, is this water deep?” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“As it is wondrous dun?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or is it sic as a saikless maid</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a leal true Knight may swim?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The water it is deep,” she said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“As it is wondrous dun;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But it is sic as a saikless maid</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a leal true Knight may swim.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Knight spurred on his tall black steed;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Lady spurred on her brown;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And fast they rade into the flood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And fast they baith swam down.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The water weets my tae,” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“The water weets my knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And hold up my bridle reins, Sir Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For the sake of Our Ladye.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If I would help thee now,” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“It were a deadly sin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I’ve sworn neir to trust a fair may’s word,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till the water weets her chin.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! the water weets my waist,” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Sae does it weet my skin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And my aching heart rins round about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The burn maks sic a din.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The water is waxing deeper still,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sae does it wax mair wide;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And aye the farther that we ride on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Farther off is the other side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, help me now, thou fause fause Knight!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Have pity on my youth;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For now the water jawes owre my head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And it gurgles in my mouth.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Knight turned right and round about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All in the middle stream;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he stretched out his head to that Ladie</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But loudly she did scream!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, this is Hallow-morn,” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And it is your bridal day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But sad would be that gay wedding,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If bridegroom and bride were away.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And ride on, ride on, proud Margaret!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till the water comes o’er your bree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the bride maun ride deep and deeper yet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wha rides this ford wi’ me!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Turn round, turn round, proud Margaret!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Turn ye round, and look on me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou hast killed a true Knight under trust,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And his Ghost now links on with thee.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_SKELETON_IN_ARMOUR"></a>THE SKELETON IN ARMOUR</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“<span class="smcap">Speak!</span> speak! thou fearful guest!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who, with thy hollow breast</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still in rude armour drest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Comest to daunt me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wrapt not in Eastern balms,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But with thy fleshless palms</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Stretched, as if asking alms,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Why dost thou haunt me?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, from those cavernous eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pale flashes seemed to rise,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As when the Northern skies</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gleam in December;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, like the water’s flow</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Under December’s snow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Came a dull voice of woe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From the heart’s chamber.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“I was a Viking old!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My deeds, though manifold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No Skald in song has told,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No Saga taught thee!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Take heed, that in thy verse</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou dost the tale rehearse,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Else dread a dead man’s curse;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For this I sought thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Far in the Northern Land,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By the wild Baltic’s strand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I, with my childish hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Tamed the gerfalcon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, with my skates fast-bound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Skimmed the half-frozen Sound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That the poor whimpering hound</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Trembled to walk on.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Oft to his frozen lair</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tracked I the grisly bear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While from my path the hare</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fled like a shadow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oft through the forest dark</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Followed the were-wolf’s bark,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until the soaring lark</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sang from the meadow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“But when I older grew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Joining a corsair’s crew,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er the dark sea I flew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With the marauders.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wild was the life we led;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Many the souls that sped,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Many the hearts that bled,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By our stern orders.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Many a wassail-bout</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wore the long Winter out;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Often our midnight shout</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Set the cocks crowing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As we the Berserk’s tale</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Measured in cups of ale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Draining the oaken pail,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Filled to o’erflowing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Once as I told in glee</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Tales of the stormy sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Soft eyes did gaze on me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Burning yet tender;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And as the white stars shine</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the dark Norway pine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On that dark heart of mine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fell their soft splendour.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“I wooed the blue-eyed maid,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yielding, yet half afraid.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And in the forest shade</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our vows were plighted.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Under its loosened vest</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fluttered her little breast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like birds within their nest</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By the hawk frighted.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Bright in her father’s hall</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shields gleamed upon the wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Loud sang the minstrels all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Chanting his glory;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When of old Hildebrand</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I asked his daughter’s hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mute did the minstrels stand</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To hear my story.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“While the brown ale he quaffed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Loud then the champion laughed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And as the wind-gusts waft</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The sea-foam brightly,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So the loud laugh of scorn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Out of those lips unshorn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the deep drinking-horn</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Blew the foam lightly.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“She was a Prince’s child,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I but a Viking wild,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And though she blushed and smiled,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I was discarded!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Should not the dove so white</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Follow the sea-mew’s flight,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Why did they leave that night</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her nest unguarded?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Scarce had I put to sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bearing the maid with me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fairest of all was she</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Among the Norsemen!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When on the white sea-strand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Waving his armed hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saw we old Hildebrand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With twenty horsemen.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Then launched they to the blast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bent like a reed each mast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet we were gaining fast,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the wind failed us;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with a sudden flaw</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Came round the gusty Skaw,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So that our foe we saw</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Laugh as he hailed us.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“And as to catch the gale</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Round veered the flapping sail,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">‘Death!’ was the helmsman’s hail,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">‘Death without quarter!’</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mid-ships with iron keel</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Struck we her ribs of steel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down her black hulk did reel</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through the black water!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“As with his wings aslant,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sails the fierce cormorant,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Seeking some rocky haunt,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With his prey laden,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So toward the open main,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Beating to sea again,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Through the wild hurricane,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bore I the maiden.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Three weeks we westward bore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when the storm was o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cloud-like we saw the shore</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stretching to leeward;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There for my lady’s bower</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Built I the lofty tower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which, to this very hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stands looking seaward.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“There lived we many years;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Time dried the maiden’s tears;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She had forgot her fears,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She was a mother;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Death closed her mild blue eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Under that tower she lies;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ne’er shall the sun arise</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On such another!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Still grew my bosom then,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still as a stagnant fen!<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hateful to me were men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The sunlight hateful!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the vast forest here,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Clad in my warlike gear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fell I upon my spear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh, death was grateful!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indentq">“Thus, seamed with many scars,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bursting these prison bars,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Up to its native stars</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My soul ascended!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There from the flowing bowl</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Deep drinks the warrior’s soul,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Skoal!</em> to the Northland! <em>skoal!</em>”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thus the tale ended.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="SWEET_WILLIAM"></a>SWEET WILLIAM’S GHOST</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">There</span> came a ghost to Margret’s door,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With many a grievous groan,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ay he tirled at the pin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But answer made she none.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Is that my father Philip,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or is’t my brother John?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or is’t my true-love, Willy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From Scotland new come home?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Tis not thy father Philip,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor yet thy brother John;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But tis thy true-love, Willy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From Scotland new come home.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O sweet Margret, O dear Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I pray thee speak to me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Give me my faith and troth, Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As I gave it to thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thy faith and troth thou’s never get,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor yet will I thee lend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till that thou come within my bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And kiss my cheek and chin.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If I shoud come within thy bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I am no earthly man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And shoud I kiss thy rosy lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy days will not be lang.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O sweet Margret, O dear Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I pray thee speak to me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Give me my faith and troth, Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As I gave it to thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thy faith and troth thou’s never get,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor yet will I thee lend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till you take me to yon kirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And wed me with a ring.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My bones are buried in yon kirk-yard,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Afar beyond the sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And it is but my spirit, Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That’s now speaking to thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She stretchd out her lilly-white hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And, for to do her best,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Hae, there’s your faith and troth, Willy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">God send your soul good rest.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Now she has kilted her robes of green</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A piece below her knee,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And a’ the live-lang winter night</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The dead corp followed she.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Is there any room at your head, Willy?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or any room at your feet?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or any room at your side, Willy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wherein that I may creep?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There’s no room at my head, Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There’s no room at my feet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s no room at my side, Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My coffin’s made so meet.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then up and crew the red, red cock,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And up then crew the gray:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Tis time, tis time, my dear Margret,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That you were going away.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No more the ghost to Margret said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But, with a grievous groan,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Evanishd in a cloud of mist,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And left her all alone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O stay, my only true-love, stay,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The constant Margret cry’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wan grew her cheeks, she closd her een,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stretchd her soft limbs, and dy’d.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_EVE_OF_ST_JOHN"></a>THE EVE OF ST. JOHN</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> Baron of Smaylho’me rose with day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He spurred his courser on,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Without stop or stay, down the rocky way,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That leads to Brotherstone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He went not with the bold Buccleuch,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His banner broad to rear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He went not ’gainst the English yew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To lift the Scottish spear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet his plate-jack was braced, and his helmet was laced,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And his vaunt-brace of proof he wore;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At his saddle-gerthe was a good steel sperthe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Full ten pound weight and more.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>[280]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Baron returned in three days’ space,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And his looks were sad and sour;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And weary was his courser’s pace,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As he reached his rocky tower.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He came not from where Ancram Moor</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ran red with English blood;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where the Douglas true, and the bold Buccleuch,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Gainst keen Lord Evers stood.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet was his helmet hacked and hewed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His acton pierced and tore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His axe and his dagger with blood imbrued,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But it was not English gore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He lighted at the Chapellage,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He held him close and still;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And he whistled thrice for his little foot-page,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His name was English Will.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come thou hither, my little foot-page,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Come hither to my knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though thou art young, and tender of age,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I think thou art true to me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come, tell me all that thou hast seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And look thou tell me true!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Since I from Smaylho’me tower have been,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What did thy Lady do?”—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>[281]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My Lady, each night, sought the lonely light,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That burns on the wild Watchfold;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, from height to height, the beacons bright</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of the English foemen told.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The bittern clamoured from the moss,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The wind blew loud and shrill;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet the craggy pathway she did cross,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the eiry Beacon Hill.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I watched her steps, and silent came</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where she sat her on a stone;—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No watchman stood by the dreary flame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It burned all alone.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The second night I kept her in sight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till to the fire she came,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, by Mary’s might! an armed Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stood by the lonely flame.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And many a word that warlike lord</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did speak to my Lady there;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the rain fell fast, and loud blew the blast,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I heard not what they were.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The third night there the sky was fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the mountain blast was still,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As again I watched the secret pair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the lonesome Beacon Hill.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And I heard her name the midnight hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And name this holy eve;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And say, ‘Come this night to thy Lady’s bower;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ask no bold Baron’s leave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘He lifts his spear with the bold Buccleuch;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His Lady is all alone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The door she’ll undo, to her Knight so true,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the Eve of good St. John.’—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘I cannot come; I must not come;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I dare not come to thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the Eve of St. John I must wander alone:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In thy bower I may not be.’—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘Now, out on thee, faint-hearted Knight!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou shouldst not say me nay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the eve is sweet, and when lovers meet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is worth the whole summer’s day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘And I’ll chain the bloodhound, and the warder shall not sound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And rushes shall be strewed on the stair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So, by the black rood-stone, and by holy St. John,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I conjure thee, my Love, to be there!’—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘Though the bloodhound be mute, and the rush beneath my foot,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the warder his bugle should not blow,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet there sleepeth a priest in the chamber to the East,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And my footstep he would know.’—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘O fear not the priest, who sleepeth to the East!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For to Dryburgh the way he has ta’en;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there to say mass, till three days do pass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For the soul of a Knight that is slain.’—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He turned him around, and grimly he frowned;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then he laughed right scornfully—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">‘He who says the mass-rite for the soul of that Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">May as well say mass for me:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘At the lone midnight hour, when bad spirits have power,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In thy chamber will I be.’—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With that he was gone, and my Lady left alone,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And no more did I see.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then changed, I trow, was that bold Baron’s brow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From the dark to the blood-red high,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, tell me the mien of the Knight thou hast seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For, by Mary, he shall die!”—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“His arms shone full bright, in the beacon’s red light;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His plume it was scarlet and blue;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On his shield was a hound, in a silver leash bound,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And his crest was a branch of the yew.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou liest, thou liest, thou little foot-page,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Loud dost thou lie to me!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For that Knight is cold, and low laid in the mould,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All under the Eildon Tree.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yet hear but my word, my noble Lord!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For I heard her name his name;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And that Lady bright, she called the Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Richard of Coldinghame.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The bold Baron’s brow then changed, I trow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From high blood-red to pale—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The grave is deep and dark—and the corpse is stiff and stark—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So I may not trust thy tale.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Where fair Tweed flows round holy Melrose,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And Eildon slopes to the plain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Full three nights ago, by some secret foe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That gay gallant was slain.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The varying light deceived thy sight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the wild winds drowned the name;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the Dryburgh bells ring, and the white monks do sing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For Sir Richard of Coldinghame!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">He</span> passed the court-gate, and he oped the tower-grate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he mounted the narrow stair,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the bartizan seat, where, with maids that on her wait,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He found his Lady fair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">That Lady sat in mournful mood;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Looked over hill and vale;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Over Tweed’s fair flood, and Mertoun’s wood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all down Teviotdale.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now hail, now hail, thou Lady bright!”—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Now hail, thou Baron true!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What news, what news, from Ancram fight?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What news from the bold Buccleuch?”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The Ancram Moor is red with gore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For many a Southern fell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Buccleuch has charged us, evermore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To watch our beacons well.”—</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Lady blushed red, but nothing she said:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor added the Baron a word:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then she stepped down the stair to her chamber fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And so did her moody lord.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">In sleep the Lady mourned, and the Baron tossed and turned,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And oft to himself he said,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The worms around him creep, and his bloody grave is deep,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It cannot give up the dead!”—</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">It</span> was near the ringing of matin-bell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The night was wellnigh done,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When a heavy sleep on that Baron fell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On the Eve of good St. John.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Lady looked through the chamber fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By the light of a dying flame;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she was aware of a Knight stood there—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Richard of Coldinghame!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Alas! away, away!” she cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For the holy Virgin’s sake!”—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Lady, I know who sleeps by thy side;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But, Lady, he will not awake.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“By Eildon Tree, for long nights three,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In bloody grave have I lain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The mass and the death-prayer are said for me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But, Lady, they are said in vain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“By the Baron’s brand, near Tweed’s fair strand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Most foully slain, I fell;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And my restless sprite on the beacon’s height,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For a space is doomed to dwell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“At our trysting-place, for a certain space,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I must wander to and fro;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But I had not had power to come to thy bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hadst thou not conjured me so.”—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Love mastered fear—her brow she crossed;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“How, Richard, hast thou sped?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And art thou saved, or art thou lost?”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The vision shook his head!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Who spilleth life, shall forfeit life;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So bid thy lord believe:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That lawless love is guilt above,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This awful sign receive.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He laid his left palm on an oaken beam:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His right upon her hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Lady shrunk, and fainting sunk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For it scorched like a fiery brand.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The sable score, of fingers four,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Remains on that board impressed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And for evermore that Lady wore</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A covering on her wrist.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There is a nun in Dryburgh bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ne’er looks upon the sun;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There is a monk in Melrose tower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He speaketh word to none.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">That nun, who ne’er beholds the day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That monk, who speaks to none—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That nun was Smaylho’me’s Lady gay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That monk the bold Baron.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Sir Walter Scott</em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="ALL_UNDER_THE_GREENWOOD_TREE">ALL UNDER THE GREENWOOD TREE</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_290"></a>[290]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE BIRTH O’ ROBIN HOOD</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And mony ane sings o’ grass, o’ grass,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>And mony ane sings o’ corn;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>And mony ane sings o’ Robin Hood,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Kens little whare he was born.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>It wasna in the ha’, the ha’,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Nor in the painted bower;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But it was in the gude green wood,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Amang the lily flower.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_291"></a>[291]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>ROBIN HOOD AND LITTLE JOHN</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">When</span> Robin Hood was about twenty years old,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a hey down down and a down</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He happend to meet Little John,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A jolly brisk blade, right fit for the trade,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For he was a lusty young man.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Tho he was calld Little, his limbs they were large,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And his stature was seven foot high;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where-ever he came, they quak’d at his name,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For soon he would make them to fly.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">How they came acquainted, I’ll tell you in brief,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If you will but listen a while;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For this very jest, amongst all the rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I think it may cause you to smile.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Bold Robin Hood said to his jolly bowmen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Pray tarry you here in this grove;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And see that you all observe well my call,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While thorough the forest I rove.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We have had no sport for these fourteen long days,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Therefore now abroad will I go;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now should I be beat, and cannot retreat,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My horn I will presently blow.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_292"></a>[292]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then did he shake hands with his merry men all,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bid them at present good b’w’ye;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, as near a brook his journey he took,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A stranger he chancd to espy.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They happend to meet on a long narrow bridge,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And neither of them would give way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quoth bold Robin Hood, and sturdily stood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I’ll show you right Nottingham play.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With that from his quiver an arrow he drew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A broad arrow with a goose-wing:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stranger reply’d, “I’ll liquor thy hide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If thou offerst to touch the string.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Quoth bold Robin Hood, “Thou dost prate like an ass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For were I to bend but my bow,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I could send a dart quite thro thy proud heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before thou couldst strike me one blow.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou talkst like a coward,” the stranger reply’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Well armd with a long bow you stand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To shoot at my breast, while I, I protest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Have nought but a staff in my hand.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The name of a coward,” quoth Robin, “I scorn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wherefore my long bow I’ll lay by;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now, for thy sake, a staff will I take,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The truth of thy manhood to try.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_293"></a>[293]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Robin Hood stept to a thicket of trees,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And chose him a staff of ground-oak;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now this being done, away he did run</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To the stranger, and merrily spoke:</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Lo! see my staff, it is lusty and tough,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now here on the bridge we will play;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whoever falls in, the other shall win</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The battel, and so we’ll away.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“With all my whole heart,” the stranger reply’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I scorn in the least to give out;”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This said, they fell to’t without more dispute,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And their staffs they did flourish about.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And first Robin he gave the stranger a bang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So hard that it made his bones ring:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stranger he said, “This must be repaid,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll give you as good as you bring.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So long as I’m able to handle my staff,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To die in your debt, friend, I scorn:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then to it each goes, and followd their blows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As if they had been threshing of corn.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The stranger gave Robin a crack on the crown,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which caused the blood to appear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Robin, enrag’d, more fiercely engag’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And followd his blows more severe.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_294"></a>[294]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So thick and so fast did he lay it on him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a passionate fury and ire,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At every stroke, he made him to smoke,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As if he had been all on fire.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O then into fury the stranger he grew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gave him a damnable look,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with it a blow that laid him full low,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tumbld him into the brook.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I prithee, good fellow, O where art thou now?”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The stranger, in laughter, he cry’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quoth bold Robin Hood, “Good faith, in the flood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And floating along with the tide.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I needs must acknowledge thou art a brave soul;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With thee I’ll no longer contend;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For needs must I say, thou hast got the day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Our battel shall be at an end.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then unto the bank he did presently wade,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And pulld himself out by a thorn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which done, at the last, he blowd a loud blast</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Straitway on his fine bugle-horn.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The eccho of which through the vallies did fly,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At which his stout bowmen appeard,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All cloathed in green, most gay to be seen;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So up to their master they steerd.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_295"></a>[295]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O what’s the matter?” quoth William Stutely;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Good master, you are wet to the skin:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“No matter,” quoth he; “the lad which you see,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In fighting, hath tumbld me in.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He shall not go scot-free,” the others reply’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So strait they were seizing him there,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To duck him likewise; but Robin Hood cries,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“He is a stout fellow, forbear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There’s no one shall wrong thee, friend, be not afraid;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">These bowmen upon me do wait;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s threescore and nine; if thou wilt be mine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou shalt have my livery strait.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And other accoutrements fit for a man;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Speak up, jolly blade, never fear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll teach you also the use of the bow,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To shoot at the fat fallow-deer.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O here is my hand,” the stranger reply’d,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I’ll serve you with all my whole heart;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My name is John Little, a man of good mettle;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nere doubt me, for I’ll play my part.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“His name shall be alterd,” quoth William Stutely,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And I will his godfather be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Prepare then a feast, and none of the least,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For we will be merry,” quoth he.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_296"></a>[296]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They presently fetchd in a brace of fat does,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With humming strong liquor likewise;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They lovd what was good; so, in the greenwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This pretty sweet babe they baptize.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He was, I must tell you, but seven foot high,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And, may be, an ell in the waste;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A pretty sweet lad; much feasting they had;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bold Robin the christning grac’d,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With all his bowmen, which stood in a ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And were of the Nottingham breed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Brave Stutely comes then, with seven yeomen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And did in this manner proceed.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“This infant was called John Little,” quoth he,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Which name shall be changed anon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The words we’ll transpose, so where-ever he goes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His name shall be calld Little John.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They all with a shout made the elements ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So soon as the office was ore;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To feasting they went, with true merriment,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And tippld strong liquor gillore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then Robin he took the pretty sweet babe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And cloathd him from top to the toe</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In garments of green, most gay to be seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gave him a curious long bow.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_297"></a>[297]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou shalt be an archer as well as the best,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And range in the greenwood with us;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where we’ll not want gold nor silver, behold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While bishops have ought in their purse.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We live here like squires, or lords of renown,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Without ere a foot of free land;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We feast on good cheer, with wine, ale, and beer,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And evry thing at our command.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then musick and dancing did finish the day;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At length, when the sun waxed low,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then all the whole train the grove did refrain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And unto their caves they did go.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And so ever after, as long as he livd,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Altho he was proper and tall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet nevertheless, the truth to express,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Still Little John they did him call.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="ROBIN_HOOD_AND_CLORINDA"></a>ROBIN HOOD AND CLORINDA</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">When</span> Robin Hood came into merry Sherwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He winded his bugle so clear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And twice five and twenty good yeomen and bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before Robin Hood did appear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Where are your companions all?” said Robin Hood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For still I want forty and three.”</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298"></a>[298]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Then said a bold yeoman, “Lo, yonder they stand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All under the green-wood tree.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As that word was spoke, Clorinda came by,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The queen of the shepherds was she;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And her gown was of velvet as green as the grass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And her buskin did reach to her knee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her gait it was graceful, her body was straight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And her countenance free from pride;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A bow in her hand, and quiver and arrows</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hung dangling by her sweet side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her eye-brows were black, ay, and so was her hair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And her skin was as smooth as glass;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her visage spoke wisdom, and modesty too;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sets with Robin Hood such a lass!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Said Robin Hood, “Lady fair, whither away?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O whither, fair lady, away?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And she made him answer, “To kill a fat buck;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For to-morrow is Titbury day.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Said Robin Hood, “Lady fair, wander with me</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A little to yonder green bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There set down to rest you, and you shall be sure</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of a brace or a lease, in an hour.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>[299]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And as we were going towards the green bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Two hundred good bucks we espy’d;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She chose out the fattest that was in the herd,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And she shot him through side and side.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“By the faith of my body,” said bold Robin Hood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I never saw woman like thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And com’st thou from east, ay, or com’st thou from west,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou needst not beg venison of me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“However, along to my bower you shall go,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And taste of a forrester’s meat:”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when we come thither we found as good cheer</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As any man needs for to eat.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">For there was hot venison, and warden pies cold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cream clouted, with honey-combs plenty;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the sarvitors they were, besides Little John,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Good yeomen at least four and twenty.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Clorinda said, “Tell me your name, gentle sir:”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And he said, “’Tis bold Robin Hood:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Squire Gamwel’s my uncle, but all my delight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is to dwell in the merry Sherwood;</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_300"></a>[300]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For ’tis a fine life, and ’tis void of all strife.”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“So ’tis, sir,” Clorinda reply’d.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“But oh!” said bold Robin, “how sweet would it be,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If Clorinda would be my bride!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">She blusht at the motion; yet, after a pause,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said, “Yes, sir, and with all my heart.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Then let us send for a priest,” said Robin Hood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And be married before we do part.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When dinner was ended, Sir Roger, the parson</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of Dubbridge, was sent for in haste:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He brought his mass-book, and he bade them take hands,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And joyn’d them in marriage full fast.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And then, as bold Robin Hood and his sweet bride</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Went hand in hand to the green bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The birds sung with pleasure in merry Sherwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ’t was a most joyful hour.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when Robin came in the sight of the bower,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Where are my yeomen?” said he:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Little John answer’d, “Lo, yonder they stand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All under the green-wood tree.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_301"></a>[301]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then a garland they brought her, by two and by two,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And plac’d them upon the bride’s head:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The music struck up, and we all fell to dance,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So the bride and bridegroom were wed.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right">(<em>Condensed</em>)</p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="SONG_OF_THE_OUTLAW_MURRAY"></a>SONG OF THE OUTLAW MURRAY</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Ettrick Forest</span> is a fair forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In it grows many a seemly tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s hart and hind, and dae and rae,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And of a’ wild beasts great plentie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s a fair Castle, bigged wi’ lime and stane;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O gin it stands not pleasantlie!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the fore front o’ that Castle fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Twa unicorns are bra’ to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s the picture of a Knight and a Lady bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the green hollin abune their bree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">There an Outlaw keeps five hundred men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He keeps a royal company;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His merrymen a’ in ae livery clad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’ the Lincoln green sae gay to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He and his Lady in purple clad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O gin they live not royallie!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>[302]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Word is gane to our noble King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Edinburgh where that he lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That there was an Outlaw in Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Counted him nought, nor a’ his courtrie gay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I make a vow,” then the gude King said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Unto the Man that dear bought me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’se either be King of Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or King of Scotland that Outlaw sall be!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then spake the Lord hight Hamilton,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And to the noble King said he,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“My sovereign Prince, some counsel take,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">First at your nobles, syne at me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I rede ye, send yon braw Outlaw till,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And see gif your man come will he:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Desire him come and be your man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hold of you yon forest free.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Gif he refuses to do that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We’ll conquer baith his lands and he!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or else we’ll throw his Castle down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And mak’ a widow o’ his gay Ladye.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King then called a gentleman,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">James Boyd (the Earl of Arran’s brother was he);</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When James he came before the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He kneeled before him on his knee.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_303"></a>[303]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Welcome, James Boyd!” said our noble King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“A message ye maun gang for me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye maun hie to Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To yon Outlaw, where bideth he.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ask him of whom he holds his lands,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or man wha may his master be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And desire him come and be my man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hold of me yon forest free.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“To Edinburgh to come and gang,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His safe warrant I sall gie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And gif he refuses to do that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We’ll conquer baith his lands and he.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou mayst vow I’ll cast his Castle down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And mak’ a widow o’ his gay Ladye;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll hang his merrymen, pair by pair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In ony frith where I may them see.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">James Boyd</span> took his leave o’ the noble King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Ettrick Forest fair cam’ he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down Birkendale Brae when that he cam’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He saw the fair forest wi’ his ee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Baith dae and rae, and hart and hind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And of a’ wild beasts great plentie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He heard the bows that boldly ring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And arrows whidderan’ him near by.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_304"></a>[304]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Of that great Castle he got a sight;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The like he ne’er saw wi’ his ee!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the fore front o’ that Castle fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Twa unicorns were bra’ to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The picture of a Knight, and Lady bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the green hollin abune their bree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thereat he spyed five hundred men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shooting with bows on Newark Lee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They were a’ in ae livery clad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’ the Lincoln green sae gay to see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His men were a’ clad in the green,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Knight was armed capapie,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a bended bow, on a milk-white steed;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And I wot they ranked right bonnilie.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thereby Boyd kend he was master man,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And served him in his ain degree.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“God mote thee save, brave Outlaw Murray!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy Ladye, and all thy chivalrie!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Marry, thou’s welcome, gentleman,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Some King’s messenger thou seems to be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The King of Scotland sent me here,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And, gude Outlaw, I am sent to thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wad wot of whom ye hold your lands,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or man wha may thy master be?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_305"></a>[305]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thir lands are mine,” the Outlaw said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I ken nae King in Christentie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Frae Soudron I this forest wan,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When the King nor his Knights were not to see.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He desires you’ll come to Edinburgh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hauld of him this forest free;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, gif ye refuse to do this thing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He’ll conquer baith thy lands and thee.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He hath vowed to cast thy Castle down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And mak’ a widow o’ thy gay Ladye;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He’ll hang thy merrymen, pair by pair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In ony frith where he may them find.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ay, by my troth!” the Outlaw said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Than wauld I think me far behind.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ere the King my fair country get,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">This land that’s nativest to me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mony o’ his nobles sall be cauld;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their ladies sall be right wearie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then spak’ his Lady, fair of face:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She said, “’T were without consent of me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That an outlaw suld come before a King;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I am right rad of treasonrie.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bid him be gude to his lords at hame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For Edinburgh my Lord sall never see.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_306"></a>[306]</span></p> - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">James Boyd</span> took his leave o’ the Outlaw keen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Edinburgh boun’ is he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When James he cam’ before the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He kneeled lowly on his knee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Welcome, James Boyd!” said our noble King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“What forest is Ettrick Forest free?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ettrick Forest is the fairest forest</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever man saw wi’ his ee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There’s the dae, the rae, the hart, the hind,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And of a’ wild beasts great plentie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s a pretty Castle of lime and stane,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh! gin it stands not pleasantlie!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There’s in the fore front o’ that Castle</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Twa unicorns, sae bra’ to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s the picture of a Knight, and a Lady bright</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ the green hollin abune their bree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There the Outlaw keeps five hundred men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He keeps a royal companie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His merrymen in ae livery clad,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’ the Lincoln green sae gay to see:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He and his Lady in purple clad;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh! gin they live right royallie!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_307"></a>[307]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He says, yon forest is his awn;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He wan it frae the Southronie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sae as he wan it, sae will he keep it,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Contrair all Kings in Christentie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Gar warn me Perthshire, and Angus baith,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fife, up and down, and Lothians three,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And graith my horse!” said our noble King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“For to Ettrick Forest hie will I me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then word is gane the Outlaw till,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In Ettrick Forest, where dwelleth he,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That the King was coming to his countrie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To conquer baith his lands and he.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I mak’ a vow,” the Outlaw said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I mak’ a vow, and that trulie:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were there but three men to tak’ my part,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Yon King’s coming full dear suld be!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then messengers he called forth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bade them hie them speedilye:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ane of ye gae to Halliday,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Laird of the Corehead is he.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He certain is my sister’s son;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bid him come quick and succor me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The King comes on for Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And landless men we a’ will be.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308"></a>[308]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What news? what news?” said Halliday,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Man, frae thy master unto me?”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Not as ye would, seeking your aid;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The King’s his mortal enemie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ay, by my troth!” said Halliday,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Even for that it repenteth me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For gif he lose fair Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He’ll tak’ fair Moffatdale frae me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll meet him wi’ five hundred men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And surely mair, if mae may be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And before he gets the forest fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We a’ will die on Newark Lee!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Outlaw called a messenger,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bid him hie him speedilye</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Andrew Murray of Cockpool:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“That man’s a dear cousin to me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Desire him come and mak’ me aid</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a’ the power that he may be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“It stands me hard,” Andrew Murray said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Judge gif it stand na hard wi’ me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To enter against a King wi’ crown,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And set my lands in jeopardie!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet, if I come not on the day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Surely at night he sall me see.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_309"></a>[309]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To Sir James Murray of Traquair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A message came right speedilye:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“What news? what news?” James Murray said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Man, frae thy master unto me?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“What needs I tell? for weel ye ken</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The King’s his mortal enemie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now he is coming to Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And landless men ye a’ will be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And, by my troth,” James Murray said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Wi’ that Outlaw will I live and dee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The King has gifted my lands lang syne,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">It cannot be nae warse wi’ me.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART IV</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> King was coming thro’ Caddon Ford,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And full five thousand men was he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They saw the dark forest them before,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They thought it awsome for to see.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then spak’ the Lord hight Hamilton,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And to the noble King said he,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“My sovereign Liege, some counsel tak’,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">First at your nobles, syne at me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Desire him meet thee at Permanscore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bring four in his companie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Five Earls sall gang yoursell before,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gude cause that you suld honoured be.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_310"></a>[310]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And, gif he refuses to do that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We’ll conquer baith his lands and he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There sall never a Murray, after him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hold land in Ettrick Forest free.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King then called a gentleman,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Royal banner-bearer there was he,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">James Hoppringle of Torsonse by name;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He cam’ and kneeled upon his knee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Welcome, James Pringle of Torsonse!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A message ye maun gang for me:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye maun gae to yon Outlaw Murray,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Surely where boldly bideth he.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Bid him meet me at Permanscore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bring four in his companie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Five Earls sall come wi’ mysell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Gude reason I suld honoured be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And gif he refuses to do that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bid him look for nae good o’ me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There sall never a Murray, after him,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Have land in Ettrick Forest free.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">James cam’ before the Outlaw keen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And served him in his ain degree:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Welcome, James Pringle of Torsonse!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What message frae the King to me?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_311"></a>[311]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He bids ye meet him at Permanscore,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bring four in your company;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Five Earls sall gang himsell before,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nae mair in number will he be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And gif you refuse to do that,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">(I freely here upgive wi’ thee,)</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He’ll cast yon bonny Castle down,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And mak’ a widow o’ that gay Ladye.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He’ll loose yon bloodhound Borderers,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ fire and sword to follow thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There will never a Murray, after thysell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Have land in Ettrick Forest free.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“It stands me hard,” the Outlaw said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Judge gif it stands na hard wi’ me:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">What reck o’ the losing of mysell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But a’ my offspring after me!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Auld Halliday, young Halliday,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye sall be twa to gang wi’ me;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Andrew Murray and Sir James Murray,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We’ll be nae mae in companie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When that they cam’ before the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They fell before him on their knee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Grant mercy, mercy, noble King!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">E’en for His sake that dyed on tree.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_312"></a>[312]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sicken like mercy sall ye have,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On gallows ye sall hangit be!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Over God’s forbode,” quoth the Outlaw then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I hope your Grace will better be!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Else, ere you come to Edinburgh port,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I trow thin guarded sall ye be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thir lands of Ettrick Forest fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I wan them from the enemie;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like as I wan them, sae will I keep them,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Contrair a’ Kings in Christentie.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All the nobles the King about,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Said pity it were to see him dee.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yet grant me mercy, sovereign Prince,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Extend your favour unto me!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll give thee the keys of my Castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ the blessing o’ my gay Ladye,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gin thou’lt make me sheriff of this forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a’ my offspring after me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Wilt thou give me the keys of thy Castle,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ the blessing of thy gay Ladye?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’se make thee sheriff of Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Surely while upward grows the tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If you be not traitor to the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Forfaulted sall thou never be.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But, Prince, what sall come o’ my men?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When I gae back, traitor they’ll ca’ me.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_313"></a>[313]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">I had rather lose my life and land,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ere my merrymen rebuked me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Will your merrymen amend their lives,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a’ their pardons I grant thee?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now, name thy lands where’er they lie,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And here I render them to thee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Fair Philiphaugh is mine by right,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And Lewinshope still mine shall be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Newark, Foulshiells, and Tinnies baith,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My bow and arrow purchased me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And I have native steads to me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Newark Lee and Hanginshaw;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I have mony steads in Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But them by name I dinna knaw.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The keys of the Castle he gave the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wi’ the blessing o’ his fair Ladye;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He was made sheriff of Ettrick Forest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Surely while upward grows the tree;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And if he was na traitor to the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Forfaulted he suld never be.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Wha ever heard, in ony times,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sicken an outlaw in his degree</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sic favour get before a King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As did Outlaw Murray of the forest free?</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Englished by William Allingham</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_314"></a>[314]</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>VALENTINE AND URSINE</h3> -</div> - - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">When</span> Flora ’gins to deck the fields</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With colours fresh and fine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then holy clerks their matins sing</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To good Saint Valentine!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King of France that morning fair</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He would a-hunting ride:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Artois forest prancing forth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In all his princely pride.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To grace his sports a courtly train</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of gallant peers attend;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with their loud and cheerful cries</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The hills and valleys rend.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Through the deep forest swift they pass,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through woods and thickets wild;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When down within a lonely dell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They found a new-born child;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">All in a scarlet kercher laid</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of silk so fine and thin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A golden mantle wrapt him round,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pinned with a silver pin.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_315"></a>[315]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The sudden sight surprised them all;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The courtiers gathered round;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They look, they call, the mother seek;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No mother could be found.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At length the King himself drew near,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And as he gazing stands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The pretty babe looked up and smiled,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And stretched his little hands.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, by the rood,” King Pepin says,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“This child is passing fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I wot he is of gentle blood;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Perhaps some Prince’s heir.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go bear him home unto my Court</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With all the care ye may:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let him be christened Valentine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In honour of this day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And look me out some cunning nurse;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Well nurtured let him be;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor aught be wanting that becomes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A bairn of high degree.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They looked him out a cunning nurse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And nurtured well was he;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor aught was wanting that became</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A bairn of high degree.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_316"></a>[316]</span></p> - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Thus</span> grew the little Valentine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beloved of King and peers;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And showed in all he spake or did</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A wit beyond his years.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But chief in gallant feats of arms</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He did himself advance,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That ere he grew to man’s estate</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He had no peer in France.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And now the early down began</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To shade his youthful chin;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When Valentine was dubbed a Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That he might glory win.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A boon, a boon, my gracious Liege,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I beg a boon of thee!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The first adventure that befalls</div> - <div class="verse indent2">May be reserved for me.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The first adventure shall be thine;”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The King did smiling say.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor many days, when lo! there came</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Three palmers clad in gray.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Help, gracious Lord,” they weeping said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And knelt, as it was meet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“From Artois forest we be come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With weak and weary feet.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_317"></a>[317]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Within those deep and dreary woods</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There wends a savage boy;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whose fierce and mortal rage doth yield</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thy subjects dire annoy.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“’Mong ruthless bears he sure was bred;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He lurks within their den:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With bears he lives; with bears he feeds,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And drinks the blood of men.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“To more than savage strength he joins</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A more than human skill;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For arms, nor cunning may suffice</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His cruel rage to still.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Up then rose Sir Valentine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And claimed that arduous deed.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Go forth and conquer,” said the King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And great shall be thy meed.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Well mounted on a milk-white steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His armour white as snow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As well beseemed a virgin Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who ne’er had fought a foe,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To Artois forest he repairs</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With all the haste he may;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon he spies the savage youth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A-rending of his prey.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_318"></a>[318]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His unkempt hair all matted hung</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His shaggy shoulders round;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His eager eye all fiery glowed;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His face with fury frowned.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Like eagles’ talons grew his nails;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His limbs were thick and strong;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And dreadful was the knotted oak</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He bare with him along.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Soon as Sir Valentine approached,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He starts with sudden spring;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And yelling forth a hideous howl,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He made the forests ring.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As when a tiger fierce and fell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hath spied a passing roe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And leaps at once upon his throat;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So sprung the savage foe;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So lightly leaped with furious force</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The gentle Knight to seize;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But met his tall uplifted spear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Which sunk him on his knees.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A second stroke so stiff and stern</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Had laid the savage low;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But springing up, he raised his club</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And aimed a dreadful blow.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp56" id="i318f" style="max-width: 46.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/i_318f.jpg" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">BUT SPRINGING UP, HE RAISED HIS CLUB<br /> -AND AIMED A DREADFUL BLOW</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_319"></a>[319]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The watchful warrior bent his head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And shunned the coming stroke;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon his taper spear it fell,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all to shivers broke.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then lighting nimbly from his steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He drew his burnisht brand.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The savage quick as lightning flew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To wrest it from his hand.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Three times he grasped the silver hilt;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Three times he felt the blade;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Three times it fell with furious force;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Three ghastly wounds it made.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Now with redoubled rage he roared;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His eye-ball flashed with fire;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Each hairy limb with fury shook;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all his heart was ire.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then closing fast with furious gripe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He clasped the champion round,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And with a strong and sudden twist</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He laid him on the ground.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But soon the Knight, with active spring,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’erturned his hairy foe;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now between their sturdy fists</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Past many a bruising blow.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_320"></a>[320]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They rolled and grappled on the ground,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And there they struggled long:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Skillful and active was the Knight;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The savage he was strong.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But brutal force and savage strength</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To art and skill must yield:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Valentine at length prevailed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And won the well-fought field.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then binding straight his conquered foe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fast with an iron chain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He ties him to his horse’s tail,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And leads him o’er the plain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To Court his hairy captive soon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Valentine doth bring;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And kneeling down upon his knee,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Presents him to the King.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">With loss of blood and loss of strength</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The savage tamer grew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And to Sir Valentine became</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A servant, tried and true.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And ’cause with bears he erst was bred,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ursine they call his name;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A name which unto future times</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Muses shall proclaim.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_321"></a>[321]</span></p> - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">In</span> high renown with Prince and peer</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now lived Sir Valentine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His high renown with Prince and peer</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Made envious hearts repine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It chanced the King upon a day</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Prepared a sumptuous feast;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there came lords and dainty dames,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And many a noble guest.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Amid their cups that freely flowed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their revelry and mirth,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A youthful Knight taxed Valentine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of base and doubtful birth.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The foul reproach, so grossly urged,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His generous heart did wound;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And strait he vowed he ne’er would rest</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Till he his parents found.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then bidding King and peers adieu,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Early one summer’s day,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With faithful Ursine by his side,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From Court he took his way.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er hill and valley, moss and moor,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For many a day they pass;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length, upon a moated lake,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They found a bridge of brass.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_322"></a>[322]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Beyond it rose a Castle fair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Y-built of marble-stone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The battlements were gilt with gold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And glittered in the sun.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Beneath the bridge, with strange device,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A hundred bells were hung;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That man, nor beast, might pass thereon</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But strait their larum rung.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">This quickly found the youthful pair,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who boldly crossing o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The jangling sound bedeafed their ears,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And rung from shore to shore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Quick at the sound the castle-gates</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unlocked and opened wide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And strait a Giant huge and grim</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stalked forth with stately pride.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now yield you, caitiffs, to my will!”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He cried with hideous roar;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Or else the wolves shall eat your flesh,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ravens drink your gore.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Vain boaster,” said the youthful Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“I scorn thy threats and thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I trust to force thy brazen gates,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And set thy captives free.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_323"></a>[323]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then putting spurs unto his steed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He aimed a dreadful thrust;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The spear against the Giant glanced</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And caused the blood to burst.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Mad and outrageous with the pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He whirled his mace of steel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The very wind of such a blow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Had made the champion reel.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">It haply missed; and now the Knight</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His glittering sword displayed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And riding round with whirlwind speed</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oft made him feel the blade.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As when a large and monstrous oak</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Unceasing axes hew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So fast around the Giant’s limbs</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The blows quick-darting flew.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">As when the boughs with hideous fall</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Some hapless woodman crush,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With such a force the enormous foe</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did on the champion rush.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A fearful blow, alas! there came;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Both horse and Knight it took,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And laid them senseless in the dust;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So fatal was the stroke.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_324"></a>[324]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then smiling forth a hideous grin,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Giant strides in haste,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, stooping, aims a second stroke:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Now caitiff breathe thy last!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But ere it fell, two thundering blows</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon his skull descend;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From Ursine’s knotty club they came,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who ran to save his friend.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Down sunk the Giant gaping wide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And rolling his grim eyes;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hairy youth repeats his blows;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He gasps, he groans, he dies.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART IV</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Quickly</span> Sir Valentine revived</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With Ursine’s timely care;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And now to search the castle walls</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The venturous youths repair.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The blood and bones of murdered Knights</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They found where’er they came;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length within a lonely cell</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They saw a mournful dame.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Her gentle eyes were dimmed with tears;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her cheeks were pale with woe;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And long Sir Valentine besought</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her doleful tale to know.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_325"></a>[325]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Alas! young Knight,” she weeping said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Condole my wretched fate;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A childless mother here you see;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A wife without a mate.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“These twenty winters here forlorn</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ve drawn my hated breath;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sole witness of a monster’s crimes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And wishing aye for death.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Know, I am sister of a King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And in my early years</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was married to a mighty Prince,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The fairest of his peers.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“With him I sweetly lived in love</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A twelvemonth and a day;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When, lo! a foul and treacherous priest</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Y-wrought our loves’ decay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“With treason, villainy, and wrong,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My goodness he repayed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With jealous doubts he filled my Lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And me to woe betrayed;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But, ’cause I then was ill, my Lord</div> - <div class="verse indent2">At length my life he spared;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But bade me instant quit the realm,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">One trusty Knight my guard.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_326"></a>[326]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Forth on my journey I depart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oppressed with grief and woe,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And tow’rds my brother’s distant Court,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With breaking heart, I go.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Long time thro’ sundry foreign lands</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We slowly pace forlorn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At length within a forest wild,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I had two babies born.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The eldest fair and smooth, as snow</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That tips the mountain hoar;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The younger’s little body rough</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With hairs was covered o’er.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But here afresh begin my woes:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While tender care I took</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To shield my eldest from the cold,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And wrap him in my cloak,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A prowling bear burst from the wood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And seized my younger son;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Affection lent my weakness wings</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And after them I run.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But all forewearied, weak and spent,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I quickly swooned away;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And there beneath the greenwood shade</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Long time I lifeless lay.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_327"></a>[327]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“At length the Knight brought me relief,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And raised me from the ground;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But neither of my pretty babes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Could ever more be found.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And, while in search we wandered far,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We met that Giant grim,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who ruthless slew my trusty Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bare me off with him.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But charmed by Heaven, or else my griefs,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He offered me no wrong;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Save that within these lonely walls</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ve been immured so long.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, surely,” said the youthful Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“You are Lady Bellisance,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wife to the Grecian Emperor;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Your brother’s King of France.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“For in your royal brother’s Court</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Myself my breeding had;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where oft the story of your woes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hath made my bosom sad.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If so, know your accuser’s dead,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And dying owned his crime;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And long your Lord hath sought you out</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thro’ every foreign clime.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_328"></a>[328]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And when no tidings he could learn</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of his much-wronged wife,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He vowed thenceforth within his Court</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To lead a hermit’s life.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now Heaven is kind!” the Lady said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And dropt a joyful tear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Shall I once more behold my Lord?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That Lord I love so dear?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But, Madam,” said Sir Valentine,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And knelt upon his knee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Know you the cloak that wrapt your babe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">If you the same should see?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And pulling forth the cloth of gold</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In which himself was found,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Lady gave a sudden shriek,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And fainted on the ground.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But by his pious care revived,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His tale she heard anon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon by other tokens found</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He was indeed her son.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But who’s this hairy youth?” she said;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“He much resembles thee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The bear devoured my younger son,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or sure that son were he.”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_329"></a>[329]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Madam, this youth with bears was bred,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And reared within their den.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But recollect ye any mark</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To know your son again?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Upon his little side,” quoth she,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Was stamped a bloody rose.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here, Lady, see the crimson mark</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon his body grows!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then clasping both her new-found sons,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">She bathed their cheeks with tears;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon towards her brother’s Court</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Her joyful course she steers.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">What pen can paint King Pepin’s joy,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His sister thus restored!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And soon a messenger was sent</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To cheer her drooping Lord,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who came in haste with all his peers,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To fetch her home to Greece;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where many happy years they reigned</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In perfect love and peace.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">To them Sir Ursine did succeed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And long the sceptre bare.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir Valentine he stayed in France,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And was his uncle’s heir.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Attributed in part to Bishop Percy<br /> -<span class="padr3h">(Done into modern spelling)</span></em></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="O_PILGRIMAGE_AND_SOULS_SO_STRONG">O’ PILGRIMAGE AND SOULS SO STRONG</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_332"></a>[332]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE PILGRIM</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>What Danger is the Pilgrim in?</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>How many are his Foes?</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>How many ways there are to Sin,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>No living Mortal knows.</em></div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Some of the Ditch shy are, yet can</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Lie tumbling on the Myre,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Some, tho’ they shun the Frying-Pan,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Do leap into the Fire.</em></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>John Bunyan</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_333"></a>[333]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE HEART OF THE BRUCE</h3> -</div> - -<h4>PART I</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> good Lord Douglas paced the deck,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And oh, his face was wan!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Unlike the flush it used to wear</div> - <div class="verse indent2">When in the battle-van.—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come hither, come hither, my trusty Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Simon of the Lee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There is a freit lies near my soul</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I fain would tell to thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Thou know’st the words King Robert spoke</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Upon his dying day:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How he bade me take his noble Heart</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And carry it far away;</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And lay it in the holy soil</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where once the Saviour trod,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Since he might not bear the blessed Cross,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor strike one blow for God.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Last night as in my bed I lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I dreamed a dreary dream:—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Methought I saw a Pilgrim stand</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the moonlight’s quivering beam.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_334"></a>[334]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“His robe was of the azure dye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Snow-white his scattered hairs,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And even such a cross he bore</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As good Saint Andrew bears.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘Why go ye forth, Lord James,’ he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">‘With spear and belted brand?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why do you take its dearest pledge</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From this our Scottish land?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘The sultry breeze of Galilee</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Creeps through its groves of palm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The olives on the Holy Mount</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Stand glittering in the calm.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘But ’tis not there that Scotland’s Heart</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall rest by God’s decree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the great Angel calls the dead</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To rise from earth and sea!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘Lord James of Douglas, mark my rede!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That Heart shall pass once more</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In fiery fight against the foe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As it was wont of yore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘And it shall pass beneath the Cross,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And save King Robert’s vow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But other hands shall bear it back,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Not, James of Douglas, thou!’</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_335"></a>[335]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now, by thy knightly faith, I pray,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sir Simon of the Lee—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For truer friend had never man</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Than thou hast been to me—</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“If ne’er upon the Holy Land</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis mine in life to tread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bear thou to Scotland’s kindly earth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The relics of her dead.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The tear was in Sir Simon’s eye</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As he wrung the warrior’s hand—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Betide me weal, betide me woe,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll hold by thy command.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“But if in battle-front, Lord James,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">’Tis ours once more to ride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor force of man, nor craft of fiend,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Shall cleave me from thy side!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART II</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">And</span> aye we sailed and aye we sailed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Across the weary sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Until one morn the coast of Spain</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Rose grimly on our lee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And as we rounded to the port,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beneath the watch-tower’s wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We heard the clash of the atabals,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the trumpet’s wavering call.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_336"></a>[336]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Why sounds yon Eastern music here</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So wantonly and long,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And whose the crowd of armed men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That round yon standard throng?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“The Moors have come from Africa</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To spoil and waste and slay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And King Alonzo of Castile</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Must fight with them to-day.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now shame it were,” cried good Lord James,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Shall never be said of me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That I and mine have turned aside</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From the Cross in jeopardie!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Have down, have down, my merrymen all—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Have down unto the plain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We’ll let the Scottish lion loose</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Within the fields of Spain!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now welcome to me, noble Lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou and thy stalwart power;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dear is the sight of a Christian Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who comes in such an hour!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Is it for bond or faith you come,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or yet for golden fee?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or bring ye France’s lilies here,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or the flower of Burgundie?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_337"></a>[337]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“God greet thee well, thou valiant King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thee and thy belted peers—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir James of Douglas am I called,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And these are Scottish spears.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We do not fight for bond or plight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor yet for golden fee;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But for the sake of our blessed Lord,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Who died upon the tree.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We bring our great King Robert’s Heart</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Across the weltering wave,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To lay it in the holy soil</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hard by the Saviour’s grave.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“True Pilgrims we, by land or sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where danger bars the way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And therefore are we here, Lord King,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To ride with thee this day!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King has bent his stately head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the tears were in his eyne—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“God’s blessing on thee, noble Knight,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For this brave thought of thine!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I know thy name full well, Lord James;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And honoured may I be,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That those who fought beside the Bruce</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Should fight this day for me!</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_338"></a>[338]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Take thou the leading of the van,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And charge the Moors amain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There is not such a lance as thine</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In all the host of Spain!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Douglas turned towards us then,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh, but his glance was high!—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“There is not one of all my men</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But is as bold as I.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There is not one of all my Knights</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But bears as true a spear—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then onwards, Scottish gentlemen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And think King Robert’s here!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - - -<h4>PART III</h4> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">The</span> trumpets blew, the cross-bolts flew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The arrows flashed like flame,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As spur in side, and spear in rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Against the foe we came.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And many a bearded Saracen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Went down, both horse and man;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For through their ranks we rode like corn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So furiously we ran!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But in behind our path they closed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Though fain to let us through,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For they were forty thousand men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And we were wondrous few.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_339"></a>[339]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We might not see a lance’s length,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So dense was their array,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the long fell sweep of the Scottish blade</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Still held them hard at bay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Make in! make in!” Lord Douglas cried—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Make in, my brethren dear!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sir William of Saint Clair is down;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We may not leave him here!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But thicker, thicker grew the swarm,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sharper shot the rain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the horses reared amid the press,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But they would not charge again.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now Jesu help thee,” said Lord James,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Thou kind and true Saint Clair!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">An’ if I may not bring thee off,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I’ll die beside thee there!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then in his stirrups up he stood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So lionlike and bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And held the precious Heart aloft</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All in its case of gold.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">He flung it from him, far ahead,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And never spake he more,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But—“Pass thee first, thou dauntless Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As thou wert wont of yore!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_340"></a>[340]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The roar of fight rose fiercer yet,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And heavier still the stour,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the spears of Spain came shivering in,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And swept away the Moor.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now praised be God, the day is won!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They fly o’er flood and fell—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Why dost thou draw the rein so hard,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Good Knight, that fought so well?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh, ride ye on, Lord King!” he said,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“And leave the dead to me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For I must keep the dreariest watch</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That ever I shall dree!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“There lies, above his master’s Heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Douglas, stark and grim;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And woe is me I should be here,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Not side by side with him!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The King he lighted from his horse,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He flung his brand away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And took the Douglas by the hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So stately as he lay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“God give thee rest, thou valiant soul!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That fought so well for Spain;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’d rather half my land were gone,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">So thou wert here again!”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_341"></a>[341]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We bore the good Lord James away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the priceless Heart we bore,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And heavily we steered our ship</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Towards the Scottish shore.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">No welcome greeted our return,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor clang of martial tread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But all were dumb and hushed as death</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Before the mighty dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We laid our chief in Douglas Kirk,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Heart in fair Melrose;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And woeful men were we that day—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">God grant their souls repose!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>William Edmondstoune Aytoun. (Condensed)</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="BARCLAY_OF_URY"></a>BARCLAY OF URY</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Up</span> the streets of Aberdeen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By the kirk and college green,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Rode the Laird of Ury;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Close behind him, close beside,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Foul of mouth and evil-eyed,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pressed the mob in fury.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Flouted him the drunken churl,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Jeered at him the serving-girl,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Prompt to please her master;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_342"></a>[342]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">And the begging carlin, late</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fed and clothed at Ury’s gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cursed him as he passed her.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Yet, with calm and stately mien,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Up the streets of Aberdeen</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Came he slowly riding;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, to all he saw and heard,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Answering not with bitter word,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Turning not for chiding.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Came a troop with broadswords swinging,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bits and bridles sharply ringing,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Loose and free and froward;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Quoth the foremost, “Ride him down!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Push him! prick him! through the town</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Drive the Quaker coward!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But from out the thickening crowd</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Cried a sudden voice and loud;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Barclay! Ho! a Barclay!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the old man at his side</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Saw a comrade, battle-tried,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Scarred and sunburned darkly,</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Who with ready weapon bare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fronting to the troopers there,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Cried aloud: “God save us!</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_343"></a>[343]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Call ye coward him who stood</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ankle deep in Lützen’s blood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With the brave Gustavus?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Nay, I do not need thy sword,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Comrade mine,” said Ury’s lord;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Put it up, I pray thee:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Passive to His holy will,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Trust I in my Master still,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Even though He slay me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Pledges of thy love and faith,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Proved on many a field of death,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Not by me are needed.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Marvelled much that henchman bold,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That his Laird, so stout of old,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Now so meekly pleaded.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Woe’s the day!” he sadly said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a slowly shaking head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And a look of pity;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ury’s honest lord reviled,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mock of knave and sport of child,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In his own good city!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Speak the word, and, master mine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As we charged on Tilly’s line,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And his Walloon lancers,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_344"></a>[344]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Smiting thro’ their midst we’ll teach</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Civil look and decent speech</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To these boyish prancers!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Marvel not, mine ancient friend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Like beginning, like the end,”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Quoth the Laird of Ury;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Is the sinful servant more</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Than his gracious Lord who bore</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bonds and stripes in Jewry?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Give me joy that in His name,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I can bear, with patient frame,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">All these vain ones offer;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While for them He suffereth long,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shall I answer wrong with wrong,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Scoffing with the scoffer?</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Happier I, with loss of all,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hunted, outlawed, held in thrall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With few friends to greet me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Than when reeve and squire were seen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Riding out from Aberdeen,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With bared heads to meet me.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“When each goodwife, o’er and o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Blessed me as I passed her door;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And the snooded daughter,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_345"></a>[345]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Through her casement glancing down,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Smiled on him who bore renown</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From red fields of slaughter.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Hard to feel the stranger’s scoff,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hard the old friend’s falling off,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hard to learn forgiving;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the Lord His own rewards,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And His love with theirs accords,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Warm and fresh and living.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Through this dark and stormy night</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Faith beholds a feeble light,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Up the blackness streaking;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Knowing God’s own time is best,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In a patient hope I rest</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For the full day-breaking!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So the Laird of Ury said,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Turning slow his horse’s head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Towards the Tolbooth prison,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where through iron gates he heard</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Poor disciples of the Word</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Preach of Christ arisen!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Not in vain, Confessor old,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Unto us the tale is told</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of thy day of trial;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_346"></a>[346]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Every age on him who strays</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From its broad and beaten ways</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pours its seven-fold vial.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Happy he whose inward ear</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Angel comfortings can hear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’er the rabble’s laughter;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And while Hatred’s fagots burn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Glimpses through the smoke discern</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of the good hereafter.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Knowing this, that never yet</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Share of Truth was vainly set</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the world’s wide fallow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">After hands shall sow the seed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">After hands from hill and mead</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Reap the harvests yellow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Thus, with somewhat of the Seer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Must the moral pioneer</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From the future borrow;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Clothe the waste with dreams of grain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, on midnight’s sky of rain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Paint the golden morrow!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>John Greenleaf Whittier</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_347"></a>[347]</span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>THE TOUCHSTONE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">A Man</span> there came, whence none could tell,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bearing a Touchstone in his hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And testing all things in the land</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By its unerring spell.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A thousand transformations rose</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From fair to foul, from foul to fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The golden crown he did not spare,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor scorn the beggar’s clothes.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Of heirloom jewels, prized so much,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Were many changed to chips and clods;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And even statues of the gods</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Crumbled beneath its touch.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then angrily the people cried,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“The loss outweighs the profit far;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Our goods suffice us as they are:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We will not have them tried.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And, since they could not so avail</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To check his unrelenting quest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They seized him, saying, “Let him test</div> - <div class="verse indent0">How real is our jail!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">But though they slew him with the sword,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And in a fire his Touchstone burned,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_348"></a>[348]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Its doings could not be o’erturned,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Its undoings restored.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when to stop all future harm,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They strewed its ashes on the breeze,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They little guessed each grain of these,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Conveyed the perfect charm.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>William Allingham</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="SIR_GALAHAD"></a>SIR GALAHAD</h3> -</div> - -<p class="center">(<em>The Quest of the Holy Grail</em>)</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">My</span> good blade carves the casques of men,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My tough lance thrusteth sure,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My strength is as the strength of ten,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Because my heart is pure.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shattering trumpet shrilleth high,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The hard brands shiver on the steel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The splintered spear-shafts crack and fly,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The horse and rider reel;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They reel, they roll in clanging lists,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And when the tide of combat stands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Perfume and flowers fall in showers,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That lightly rain from ladies’ hands.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">How sweet are looks that ladies bend</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On whom their favours fall!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For them I battle till the end,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To save from shame and thrall;</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_349"></a>[349]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">But all my heart is drawn above,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My knees are bowed in crypt and shrine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I never felt the kiss of love,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Nor maiden’s hand in mine.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">More bounteous aspects on me beam,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Me mightier transports move and thrill;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So keep I fair thro’ faith and prayer,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A virgin heart in work and will.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When down the stormy crescent goes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A light before me swims,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Between dark stems the forest glows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I hear a noise of hymns.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then by some secret shrine I ride;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I hear a voice, but none are there;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stalls are void, the doors are wide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The tapers burning fair.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The silver vessels sparkle clean,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The shrill bell rings, the censer swings,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And solemn chaunts resound between.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Sometimes on lonely mountain-meres</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I find a magic bark.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I leap on board; no helmsman steers;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I float till all is dark.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A gentle sound, an awful light!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Three Angels bear the Holy Grail;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With folded feet, in stoles of white,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On sleeping wings they sail.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_350"></a>[350]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My spirit beats her mortal bars,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As down dark tides, the glory slides,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And starlike mingles with the stars.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">When on my goodly charger borne</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thro’ dreaming towns I go,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The cock crows ere the Christmas morn,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The streets are dumb with snow.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The tempest crackles on the leads,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And, ringing, springs from brand and mail</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But o’er the dark a glory spreads,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And gilds the driving hail.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I leave the plain, I climb the height;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No branchy thicket shelter yields;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But blessed forms in whistling storms</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Fly o’er waste fens and windy fields.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">A maiden Knight—to me is given</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Such hope, I know not fear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I yearn to breathe the airs of Heaven</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That often meet me here.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I muse on joy that will not cease,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Pure spaces clothed in living beams,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pure lilies of eternal peace,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whose odours haunt my dreams;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, stricken by an Angel’s hand,</div> - <div class="verse indent1">This mortal armour that I wear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This weight and size, this heart and eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Are touched, are turned to finest air.</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_351"></a>[351]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The clouds are broken in the sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And thro’ the mountain-walls</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A rolling organ-harmony</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Swells up and shakes and falls.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then move the trees, the copses nod,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Wings flutter, voices hover clear;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“O just and faithful Knight of God!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ride on! the prize is near.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So pass I hostel, hall, and grange;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By bridge and ford, by park and pale,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All-armed I ride, whate’er betide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Until I find the Holy Grail.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Alfred, Lord Tennyson</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="PILGRIMAGE"></a>PILGRIMAGE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Give</span> me my Scallop-shell of Quiet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My Staff of Faith to walk upon;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My Scrip of Joy, immortal diet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My Bottle of Salvation.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My Gown of Glory, (Hope’s true Gage)</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And thus I’ll take my Pilgrimage.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Blood must be my Bodie’s only Balmer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whilst my Soul like a quiet Palmer,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Travelleth towards the Land of Heaven,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No other Balm will there be given.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Over the Silver Mountains,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where spring the Nectar Fountains,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_352"></a>[352]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">There will I kiss the Bowl of Bliss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And drink mine everlasting fill</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Upon every milken Hill.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">My Soul will be a-dry before,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But after, it will thirst no more.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I’ll take them first, to quench my Thirst,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And taste of Nectar’s Suckets,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">At those clear Wells</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Where Sweetness dwells,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Drawn up by Saints in crystal buckets.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">More peaceful Pilgrims I shall see,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That have cast off their Rags of Clay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And walk apparelled fresh like me,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And when our Bodies and all we</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Are filled with Immortality,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the blessed Parts we’ll travel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Strowed with Rubies thick as Gravel,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ceilings of Diamonds, Saphire Flowers,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">High Walls of Coral, and pearly Bowers.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">From thence to Heaven’s bribeless Hall,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where no corrupted Voices brawl,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">No Cause deferred, no vain spent Journey,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For there <em>Christ</em> is the King’s Attorney,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who pleads for all without Degrees,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And He hath Angels, but no Fees.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_353"></a>[353]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And this is mine eternal Plea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Him that made Heaven, Earth and Sea,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That since my Flesh must die so soon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And want a Head to dine next Noon,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Just at the Stroke, when my Veins start and spread,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Set on my Soul an everlasting Head.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then am I ready, like a Palmer fit,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To tread those blest Paths which before I writ.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Sir Walter Raleigh.</em> (<em>Condensed</em>)</p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_ROYAL_COURT"></a>THE ROYAL COURT</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">In</span> Royal Courts my Soul hath slept,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">On royal meats I’ve fed;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Royal favour sheltered me,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My Soul was wellnigh dead.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The royal eye’s now turned away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And scorn and dearth are mine;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">False-hearted friends are fled afar,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">My Soul awakes to pine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! where, my Soul, seek refuge now,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">While mocking foes pursue?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Oh! whither shall I flee away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Thou Soul so full of rue?”</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_354"></a>[354]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Turn, turn unto this greenwood shade,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And rest beneath His Tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With little birds on every bough</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To sing His peace to thee.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A loyal King doth here abide,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Here is his Royal Court;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His carpet green’s enamelled bright</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With flowers of every sort.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“His subjects, all the wildwood things,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">He feedeth from His hand;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">His messengers are birds and winds,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His will they understand.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“His table is bedecked with moss;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His almoners are bees,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The berry-vine, the leaping stream,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And all the fruitful trees.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here shalt thou find a Royal Court</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where flatt’ry holds no sway;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And gentle is the royal eye,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Here friendship comes to stay.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Turn, turn unto the sweet greenwood,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O happy One! and sing</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Praise with the birds and all good life,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To Christ who is our King!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Modern, anon.</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_355"></a>[355]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>TRUE VALOUR</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Who would true Valour see,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Let him come hither;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>One here will constant be,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Come Wind, come Weather.</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>There’s no</em> Discouragement,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Shall make him once</em> Relent,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>His first avow’d</em> Intent,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To be a Pilgrim.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2"><em>Who so beset him round,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>With dismal</em> Storys,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Do but themselves confound;</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>His Strength the</em> more is.</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>No</em> Lyon <em>can him fright,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He’l with a</em> Gyant <em>Fight,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>But he will have a right</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To be a Pilgrim.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">Hobgoblin, <em>nor foul</em> Fiend,</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Can</em> daunt <em>his Spirit:</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He knows, he</em> at the end,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Shall Life Inherit.</div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>Then Fancies fly away,</em></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><em>He’l fear not what men say</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He’l <em>labor Night and Day</em>,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To be a Pilgrim.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>John Bunyan (from reprint of first edition)</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_356"></a>[356]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3>PEACE</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Sweet</span> Peace, where dost thou dwell, I humbly crave?</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Let me once know.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I sought thee in a secret cave,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And asked if Peace were there.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A hollow wind did seem to answer, “No!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Go seek elsewhere.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">I did; and going did a Rainbow note:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Surely,” thought I,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“This is the lace of Peace’s coat;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I will search out the matter.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But while I looked the clouds immediately</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Did break and scatter.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then went I to a garden, and did spy</div> - <div class="verse indent2">A gallant flower,—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The Crown-Imperial. “Sure,” said I,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Peace at the root must dwell.”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But when I digged, I saw a worm devour</div> - <div class="verse indent2">What showed so well.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">At length I met a rev’rend, good, old man;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Whom, when for Peace</div> - <div class="verse indent2">I did demand, he thus began:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“There was a Prince of old</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At Salem dwelt, Who lived with good increase</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of flock and fold.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_357"></a>[357]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“He sweetly lived; yet sweetness did not save</div> - <div class="verse indent2">His life from foes.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">But after death, out of His grave</div> - <div class="verse indent2">There sprang twelve stalks of Wheat;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which many wondering at got some of those</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To plant and set.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“It prospered strangely, and did soon disperse</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through all the Earth;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For they that taste it do rehearse</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That virtue lies therein,—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A secret virtue, bringing Peace and Mirth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">By flight of Sin.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Take of this grain, which in my garden grows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And grows for you:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Make bread of it; and that repose</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And Peace, which ev’ry where</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With so much earnestness you do pursue,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Is only there.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>George Herbert</em></p> - -<hr class="r40" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3><a id="THE_THREE_KINGS"></a>THE THREE KINGS</h3> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Three</span> Kings came riding from far away,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Three Wise Men out of the East were they,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And they travelled by night and they slept by day,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful Star.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_358"></a>[358]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Star was so beautiful, large, and clear,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That all the other stars of the sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Became a white mist in the atmosphere,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And by this they knew that the coming was near</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Three caskets of gold with golden keys;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their robes were of crimson silk with rows</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And so the Three Kings rode into the West,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through the dusk of night, over hill and dell.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With the people they met at some wayside well.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Of the Child that is born,” said Baltasar,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">“Good people, I pray you, tell us the news;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For we in the East have seen his Star,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And have ridden fast, and have ridden far,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To find and worship the King of the Jews.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the people answered, “You ask in vain;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We know of no King but Herod the Great!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They thought the Wise Men were men insane,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As they spurred their horses across the plain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Like riders in haste, and who cannot wait.</div> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_359"></a>[359]</span></p> </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And when they came to Jerusalem,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Herod the Great, who had heard this thing,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And said, “Go down unto Bethlehem,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And bring me tidings of this new King.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So they rode away; and the Star stood still,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The only one in the grey of morn;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Yes, it stopped—it stood still of its own free will,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Right over Bethlehem on the hill,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The City of David, where Christ was born.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Through the silent street, till their horses turned</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But the windows were closed and the doors were barred,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And only a light in the stable burned.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And cradled there in the scented hay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In the air made sweet by the breath of kine,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The little Child in the manger lay,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Child, that would be King one day</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of a Kingdom not human but divine.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">His mother Mary of Nazareth</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Sat watching beside his place of rest,</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_360"></a>[360]</span> - <div class="verse indent0">Watching the even flow of his breath,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For the joy of life and the terror of death</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Were mingled together in her breast.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">They laid their offerings at his feet:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The gold was their tribute to a King,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The frankincense, with its odour sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Was for the Priest, the Paraclete,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The myrrh for the body’s burying.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">And the mother wondered and bowed her head,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And sat as still as a statue of stone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her heart was troubled yet comforted,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Remembering what the Angel had said</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of an endless reign and of David’s throne.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Then the Kings rode out of the city gate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">With a clatter of hoofs in proud array;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But they went not back to Herod the Great,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For they knew his malice and feared his hate,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And returned to their homes by another way.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="right"><em>Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</em></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX</h2> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="SUGGESTIONS">SUGGESTIONS<br /> -<span class="fs80">FOR TEACHERS AND LEADERS OF<br /> -POETRY HOURS</span></h2> -</div> - - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="noindent"><em>Primitive ballads have a straightforward felicity; many of them a conjuring -melody as befits verse and music born together. Their gold is -virgin, from the rock strata, and none the better for refining and burnishing. -No language is richer in them than the English.</em></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Edmund Clarence Stedman</span></p> - -<p class="noindent"><em>The old song of Chevy-Chase is the favourite ballad of the Common People -of England; and Ben Jonson used to say, he had rather have been the -author of it than of all his works.... For my own part, I am so professed -an admirer of this antiquated song, that I shall give my reader a -critic upon it.</em></p> - -<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Joseph Addison</span></p> -</div> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap">Ballads</span> are living organisms.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> If a teacher requires -a pupil to analyze minutely a ballad according to rules -of prosody and literary criticism, the analysis ruthlessly -destroys its spontaneous folk-spirit. To dissect -a ballad is literary slaughter.</p> - -<p>We all know how the cold-blooded analysis of choice -masterpieces destroys forever a pupil’s pleasure in -reading them. The teacher of ballad-literature should -use the opposite method to that of literary criticism. -She should make her pupil delight in a ballad for -its own sake; for its unity, its swinging rhythm, its -unself-conscious expressions of emotion, and for the -human life within it.</p> - -<p>A ballad treated in this sympathetic manner will -become a thrilling memory for the pupil to carry -through the years. A ballad presented thus has educational<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_364"></a>[364]</span> -values besides that of giving joy. It may be -used to develop the pupil’s sense of time and rhythm; -to enlarge his vocabulary; to teach him to express his -thoughts without affectation; to give him ease in sight-reading -of Scottish dialect and old English spelling and -to accustom him to obsolete words. As a memory -exercise for the pupil, the learning and recitation of -ballads is unrivaled; because young people memorize -them without effort. And furthermore, ballads have -dramatic qualities that hold and move a mixed audience -of boys and girls of all ages—and of grown folk, -too, for that matter.</p> - -<p>But perhaps the most important educational function -of ballad-literature is that of being a safety-valve -for the escape of new, fast-rising feelings and enthusiasms -of growing boys and girls, feelings that throng -and press for utterance. Young people do not know -how to put them into their own words, but find a -wholesome and satisfying means of expressing their -emotions through learning and reciting ballads or by -reading them aloud.</p> - - -<h3>THE BALLADS IN THIS BOOK</h3> - -<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap">There</span> are many versions of old ballads, of some as -many as twenty or more; those most suitable for young -people are given here.</p> - -<p>There are included here ballads in Scottish dialect, -and in old English wording with obsolete spelling and -capitalization. These versions may be used with confidence -by the teacher, because no pains have been -spared in collating them by authoritative texts.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_365"></a>[365]</span></p> - -<p>Even such differing forms as <em>o’</em> or <em>o</em>; <em>wi’</em> or <em>wi</em>; <em>e’e</em> or -<em>ee</em>; <em>then</em> for <em>than</em> or <em>than</em> for <em>then</em>; and variations of -proper names, as in “Proud Lady Margaret,” have -been followed according to the text used.</p> - -<p>Quotation marks, only, have been added for the convenience -of the young folk. A few objectionable, but -unimportant, words have been changed. In the version -of “Chevy-Chase,” Bishop Percy’s <cite>Folio Manuscript</cite> -has been followed with a few emendations from his -<cite>Reliques</cite>, including the capitalization of the first letter -of each line. The <cite>Folio Manuscript</cite> is more authoritative -than the <cite>Reliques</cite>.</p> - -<p>Some of the ballads and verses which follow the old -forms given by collectors are: “The Stormy Winds Do -Blow,” p. 2; “Sir Patrick Spens,” p. 3; “The Dæmon -Lover,” p. 7; “Chevy-Chase,” p. 21; “Proud Lady -Margaret,” p. 62; “The Famous Flower of Serving-Men,” -p. 65; “The Young Tamlane,” p. 255; “Thomas -the Rhymer,” p. 93; “The Wee Wee Man,” p. 114; -“The Earl of Mar’s Daughter,” p. 115; “Kemp -Owyne,” p. 122; “Fair Anny of Roch-royal,” p. 191; -“The Cruel Sister,” p. 196; “Blancheflour and Jellyflorice,” -p. 209; “The Gay Goss-Hawk,” p. 218; -“Bonny Baby Livingston,” p. 224; “Young Beichan -and Susie Pye,” p. 237; “The Wife of Usher’s Well,” -p. 263; “Sir Roland,” p. 265; the Robin Hood ballads, -p. 290 ff.; “True Valour,” p. 355; “Pilgrimage,” p. -351; “Peace,” p. 356.</p> - -<p>In striking and pleasing contrast to the old ballads -are the modern ones with capitalization to please -modern children. It may be noted that the texts of -Keats’s “La Belle Dame,” and Campbell’s “Earl -March,” are different from the versions usually included<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_366"></a>[366]</span> -in children’s ballad-books. The texts followed -here are those most lately approved by literary critics.</p> - - -<h2><a id="PROGRAMME"></a>PROGRAMME<br /> -<span class="fs80">FOR A YEAR OF BALLAD-READING AND STUDY</span></h2> - -<h3>ONE PERIOD A WEEK FOR FORTY WEEKS</h3> - -<p class="noindent"><span class="smcap">Ways</span> in which ballads may be used in the classroom -or during Poetry Hours:</p> - -<p>1. <em>Reading aloud for development of literary taste.</em> -This is the most important educational use of ballads. -The teacher should read them aloud to the class, giving -them all their native swing and quick pulsation. -The minstrels, who composed them, often accented -words to suit the length of their lines; so if the reader -will lend her voice to the rhythm of the verse, the -accents will fall where they belong. Such words as -<em>country</em>, <em>harper</em>, <em>singer</em>, <em>damsel</em>, <em>lady</em>, and <em>battle</em> should -sometimes be accented on the last syllable, as <em>countrý</em>, -<em>singér</em>, <em>harpér</em>, <em>ladý</em>.</p> - -<p>2. <em>Memorizing and reciting.</em> Boys and girls enjoy -learning ballads by heart. They do so with astonishing -ease. The teacher may assign one ballad to the whole -class; or she may divide the class into sections and -assign a ballad to each section. This should be done at -least two or three weeks before the period for recitation. -The teacher may then call on one or more of the -pupils to recite.</p> - -<p>3. <em>Story-telling from the ballads.</em> The teacher may -read aloud a ballad. She should read it two or three -times to the class. Then the pupils may retell it in -story form either orally or in writing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_367"></a>[367]</span></p> - -<p>4. <em>Dramatization.</em> Ballads are so dramatic and simple -in their movement that they may be easily acted in -the schoolroom with or without improvised scenery -and costumes. The teacher or pupil may read aloud -the ballad, while some of the boys and girls act it out -in dumb show; or, better yet, the actors may recite the -lines that belong to their parts, and the teacher may -read aloud the descriptive parts only. Whenever a -refrain occurs, as in “The Stormy Winds Do Blow,” -the whole class may join in reciting it.</p> - -<p>5. <em>Writing from memory.</em> The teacher may assign a -ballad to the class to learn by heart; and then she may -have the class write it out from memory following closely -the spelling, punctuation, and dialect of the text.</p> - -<p>6. <em>Original ballad-writing.</em> Young people are natural -ballad-makers. At the end of the year, after memorizing -and reciting ballads and listening to them read -aloud, the pupils will be so saturated with ballad-spirit -and meter, that ballad-writing will be a second -nature. The teacher may then tell, very briefly but -interestingly, the plot of a ballad, and let the pupils -put it into original verses, giving them a week or two -in which to do so. After this exercise the teacher may -assign a local legend or story for practice in original -ballad-writing.</p> - -<p>The Programme that is given here is merely suggestive. -All the ballads in the book are good to read aloud, -and most of them may be dramatized or memorized. -The course presented below shows a teacher how she -may, by progressive steps, develop her pupils’ taste -for ballad-literature, and prepare them to appreciate -more mature forms of narrative poetry, such as metrical -romances and epics.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_368"></a>[368]</span></p> - -<h3>COURSE FOR FORTY WEEKS—ONE PERIOD A<br /> -WEEK</h3> - -<p class="negin1"><em>1st Week. Reading aloud:</em> The Laidley Worm O’ Spindleston-Heughs, -p. 148.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>2d Week. Reading aloud:</em> Little Billee, p. 159; Brian O’Linn, -p. 160; Dicky of Ballyman, p. 162; The Cinder King, -p. 167.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>3d Week. Dramatization:</em> The Stormy Winds Do Blow, -p. 2; The Noble Riddle, p. 208; “Earl March looked -on his dying child,” p. 203.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>4th Week. Reading aloud:</em> The Lady of Shalott, p. 124; The -Singing Leaves, p. 131.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>5th Week. Dramatization:</em> Kemp Owyne, p. 122; The Erl-King, p. 86.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>6th Week. Reading aloud:</em> Robin Hood and Little John, -p. 291; Robin Hood and Clorinda, p. 297.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>7th Week. Dramatization:</em> Ballad of the Oysterman, p. 164; -Earl Haldan’s Daughter, p. 58; The Greeting of Kynast, -p. 74; A Tragic Story, p. 158.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>8th Week. Reading aloud (Halloween Week):</em> The Spell, -p. 254; Sir Roland, p. 265; The Cruel Sister, p. 196; -The Skeleton in Armour, p. 270.</p> - -<p class="negin1"><em>9th Week. Dramatization:</em> Glenara, p. 212; The Dæmon -Lover, p. 7.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>10th Week. Reading aloud:</em> King Alfred and the Shepherd, -p. 176.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>11th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:</em> Young Beichan -and Susie Pye, p. 237.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>12th Week. Reading aloud:</em> The Fairy Thorn, p. 87; The -Kelpie of Corrievreckan, p. 97.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>13th Week. Memorizing and reciting:</em> True Valour, p. 355; -The Touchstone, p. 347; Barclay of Ury, p. 341; Pilgrimage, -p. 351.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>14th Week. Reading aloud:</em> The Heart of the Bruce, p. 333.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>15th Week. Memorizing and reciting (for Christmas):</em> The -Royal Court, p. 353; Peace, p. 356; The Three Kings, -p. 357.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>16th Week. Reading aloud:</em> Lady Clare, p. 59; Sir Galahad, -p. 348.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_369"></a>[369]</span></p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>17th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:</em> The Earl of Mar’s -Daughter, p. 115.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>18th Week. Reading aloud:</em> Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, -p. 32.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>19th Week. Dramatization:</em> The Gay Goss-Hawk, p. 218; -Thomas the Rhymer, p. 93.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>20th Week. Reading aloud:</em> Young Tamlane, p. 255.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>21st Week. Memorizing and reciting:</em> Lord Lovel, p. 204; The -Beggar-Maid, p. 214; The Sands of Dee, p. 190; Lochinvar, -p. 215.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>22d Week. Reading aloud:</em> Fair Anny of Roch-royal, p. 191; -Bonny Baby Livingston, p. 224.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>23d Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:</em> Blancheflour and -Jellyflorice, p. 209.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>24th Week. Reading aloud:</em> The Child of Elle, p. 244.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>25th Week. Writing from memory:</em> The Birth o’ Robin Hood, -p. 290; The Wee Wee Man, p. 114.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>26th Week. Reading aloud:</em> More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase, -p. 21.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>27th Week. Story-telling from the Ballads:</em> Cochrane’s Bonny -Grizzy, p. 70; The Frolicksome Duke, p. 169.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>28th Week. Reading aloud:</em> May of the Moril Glen, p. 138.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>29th Week. Writing from memory:</em> The Wife of Usher’s Well, -p. 263.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>30th Week. Reading aloud:</em> Sir Patrick Spens, p. 3; Hynd -Horn, p. 231.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>31st Week. Writing from memory:</em> Proud Lady Margaret, -p. 62.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>32d Week. Reading aloud:</em> Song of the Outlaw Murray, -p. 301.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>33d Week. Original ballad-writing:</em> Barbara Allen’s Cruelty, -p. 201; Alice Brand, p. 81; The Famous Flower of -Serving-Men, p. 65.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>34th Week. Reading aloud:</em> The Eve of St. John, p. 279.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>35th Week. Memorizing and reciting:</em> The Fairy Tempter, -p. 80; The Luck of Edenhall, p. 135; La Belle Dame -sans Merci, p. 91.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>36th Week. Reading aloud:</em> The Mermaid, p. 10.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>37th Week. Original ballad-writing:</em> King James the First and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_370"></a>[370]</span> -the Tinkler, p. 173; Valentine and Ursine, p. 314; Belted -Will, p. 47.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>38th Week. Reading aloud:</em> Kilmeny, p. 101.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>39th Week. Original ballad-writing:</em> The teacher may assign a -subject for this—a local legend or story of a patriotic -or historical event.</p> - -<p class="negin2"><em>40th Week. Entertainment for Parents and Friends of Pupils:</em> -The ballad-course may close with an afternoon or evening -entertainment. This may be made delightful. All -the pupils should take part in the exercises.</p> - -<p>Many of the old ballads are set to charming ancient -tunes, and may be sung by the whole school. Banjo -or guitar accompaniment is specially appropriate to -ballad airs. Musical scores for some of the ballads in -this book—“The Cruel Sister” (“The Twa Sisters”), -“Hynd Horn,” “Sir Patrick Spens,” “Young -Beichan,” “Proud Lady Margaret,” “The Famous -Flower of Serving-Men,” and “Lord Lovel”—may be -found in Professor Child’s <cite>English and Scottish Popular -Ballads</cite>, large edition, part 10. If the music of old -ballads is not obtainable, then popular, well-known -ballads, such as “Annie Laurie,” “Ben Bolt,” and -“Loch Lomond,” may be sung in their stead.</p> - -<p>The following outline for an entertainment may be -varied to suit the abilities and interests of the boys and -girls who are to take part:</p> - - -<h3>PROGRAMME FOR AN ENTERTAINMENT</h3> - -<p class="pad6 noindent">One or more ballads sung by the pupils.<br /> -Recitation.<br /> -Dramatization.<br /> -Ballad-reading.<br /> -A ballad solo.<br /> -Recitation.<br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_371"></a>[371]</span> -Reading of the best original ballad composed by a pupil.<br /> -Dramatization.<br /> -Recitation.<br /> -Close: the audience and pupils may sing one or more -popular, well-known American ballads, such as may -be found in any good song-collection.</p> - -<p>In making up her Programme, the teacher should -avoid selecting very long ballads for memorization and -recitation. It is best to let the pupils who are to recite, -choose the ballads they like best. She should be careful -to balance her Programme with verses of all kinds—grave -and gay, sad and weird, romantic and historical. -She should so artistically compose her Programme -that it will play on the emotions of her audience, moving -it from laughter to tears, from awe to the heroic. -That is what ballads are for, to touch the heart, as -well as the head.</p> - - -<h3>FOR LIBRARIANS AND SOCIAL WORKERS</h3> - -<p>This entire course, as outlined for forty weeks, may -be followed by Librarians and Social Workers. They -may, however, shorten the Programme or alter it to -suit the occasion.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span></p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span><br /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span></p> -<h2 class="nobreak p10 pb10" id="GLOSSARY_AND_INDEXES">GLOSSARY AND INDEXES</h2> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="GLOSSARY">GLOSSARY</h3> -</div> - - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst"><b>A’</b>, all</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Aboon</b>, above</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Abune</b>, above</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Acton</b>, stuffed leather jacket worn under coat-of-mail</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ae</b>, one, single, sole, mere</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Aff</b>, off, oft</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Aften</b>, often</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Aiblins</b>, perhaps</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Aik</b>, oak</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ain</b>, own</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Airn</b>, iron</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Alake</b>, alas!</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Alane</b>, alone</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Amang</b>, among</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>An</b>, and</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ance</b>, once</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ane</b>, one</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ankers</b>, anchors</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Anse</b>, once</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ask</b>, newt, lizard</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Atabal</b>, Moorish kettledrum</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Attour</b>, above</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Auld</b>, old</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Awa’</b> <em>or</em> <b>awa</b>, away</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Awn</b>, own</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ayme</b>, aim</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Bairn</b> <em>or</em> <b>bairnie</b>, child</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Baith</b>, both</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bale</b>, fire, faggot</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ban</b>, band</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bane</b>, bone</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bartizan</b>, a small overhanging turret jutting out from the top of a tower</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bash</b>, beat, smash in</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Beacon</b>, a fire lighted on a height as a danger signal to call together warriors to repel the enemy</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bedeen</b>, immediately, forthwith; often used as an expletive, or as a rhyme-word at the end of a line</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Belay</b>, lie in the way for</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Beltan</b> <em>or</em> <b>Beltane</b>, a Celtic pagan festival celebrated on May Day or May 3d, by lighting bonfires on hilltops</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bent</b>, coarse grass, open field, sandy knoll covered with coarse grass, the hollow of a hill</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Berserk</b>, ancient Norse warrior who raged with fury in battle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bigged</b>, built</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bigly</b>, pleasant to live in, spacious</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Billie</b>, comrade, brother</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Birk</b>, birch</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Birkie</b>, lively</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Birling</b>, drinking</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bla</b>, blow</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="BLACK_ROOD"></a><b>Black Rood Stone</b>, The Black Rood of Melrose, a crucifix of supposedly great sanctity</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Blee</b>, colour, complexion</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Blew</b>, blue</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Blin</b>, cease, stop</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Blude</b>, blood</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Borrow</b>, set free, deliver, ransom</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Boud</b>, behoved, was obliged</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bouir</b>, bower</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Boun’</b>, bound, bound home</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_376"></a>[376]</span><b>Bour</b>, bower</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bout</b>, bolt</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bower</b> <em>or</em> <b>bowir</b>, lady’s chamber, a house, a rustic cottage</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bra’</b>, fine, handsome, brave</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Brae</b>, down, a slope of a hill</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Braid</b>, broad. “A braid letter”; a letter on a broad sheet, or a long letter</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Brak</b>, broke</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Brake</b>, thicket, a place overgrown with ferns, shrubs, and brambles</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Brash</b>, sickness</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Brast</b>, burst</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Brattle</b>, race, hurry</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Braw</b>, comely, handsome, well-dressed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bree</b>, brows, eyebrows</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Brode</b>, breed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Broom</b>, the Genista, a shrub with bright golden flowers</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bughts</b>, pens</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Burd alone</b>, by himself, solitary</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Burn</b>, brook</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Busked</b>, dressed, adorned</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>But and</b>, and also</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Bygane</b>, gone by</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Byre</b>, cow-house</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Cade lamb</b>, lamb brought up by hand, pet lamb</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Callant</b>, lad</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cam’</b> <em>or</em> <b>cam</b>, came</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Capapie</b>, cap-à-pié, from head to foot. Armed cap-à-pié, armed from head to foot</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Carl</b> <em>or</em> <b>carle</b>, churl</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Carline</b>, old woman, peasant woman</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Carlish</b>, churlish, uncivilized</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Carp</b>, tell tales, sing or chant ballads</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Castle-yate</b>, castle-gate</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Caul</b> <em>or</em> <b>cauld</b>, cold</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Channerin’</b>, fretting</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Chaps</b>, jaw, chops</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cheik</b>, cheek</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Child</b> <em>or</em> <b>childe</b>, a youth of gentle birth</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Christentie</b>, Christendom</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Claith</b>, cloth</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Claymore</b>, large sword</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cleedin</b>, clothing</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Clour</b>, bump on the head from a heavy blow</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Clouted</b>, heavy and patched</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Clouted cream</b>, clotted cream</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cloutie</b>, patched, ragged</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Coft</b>, bought</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cold</b>, could</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Contrair</b>, contrary, opposed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Corbie</b>, raven</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cosh</b>, quiet</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Coud</b>, could</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Couldna</b>, could not</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Couthy</b>, friendly, kind, loving</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cow-me-doo</b>, Coo-my-dove, loving name for a dove</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Craig</b>, neck, throat</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Craw</b>, crow</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Crawed</b>, crowed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cum</b>, come, came</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cumbruk</b>, cambric</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Cushat</b>, ring-dove, wood-pigeon</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Dae</b>, doe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dantonit</b>, daunted</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Daunton</b>, daunt, subdue</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Daw</b>, dawn</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dean</b> <em>or</em> <b>den</b>, dell, narrow glen</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Death-thraw</b>, death-struggle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dee</b>, do, die</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Degree</b>, rank. “Served him in his own degree,” offered him respect according to his rank</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_377"></a>[377]</span><b>Deil</b>, Devil</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dinna</b>, do not</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dochter</b>, daughter</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Doo</b>, dove</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dought</b>, should be able tot can</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Doun</b>, down</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dour</b> <em>or</em> <b>doure</b>, hard, severe, savage</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dove</b>, word of endearment for one pure and gentle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Downa</b>, cannot</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Drap</b>, drop</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Drapp’d</b>, dropped</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dree</b>, be able, stand. “As fast as he might dree,” as fast as he could, undergo, suffer</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Drumlie</b>, gloomy</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Duddis</b>, poor clothes, tatters, duds</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dule</b>, grief</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dun</b>, dark coloured, of a dull brown colour</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Dune</b>, done</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Eccho</b>, echo</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Eche</b>, each</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>E’e</b> <em>or</em> <b>ee</b>, eye</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Effeir</b>, pomp, circumstance, bearing, garb, panoply</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Eident</b>, unrestingly</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="EILDON_TREE"></a><b>Eildon</b>, a high hill with three-pointed summit, overlooking Melrose town. Eildon Tree, the spot where Thomas the Rhymer is supposed to have uttered his prophecies</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Eiry</b>, eery, weird, dreary, gloomy, fear-inspiring</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Eldern</b>, old</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Elritch</b>, elvish</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Elyed</b>, vanished</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Eneuch</b>, enough</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Enoo</b>, enough</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ere</b>, ever</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Erle</b>, earl</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Erlish</b>, elvish</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Erst</b>, first, formerly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Even cloth</b>, smooth cloth, with nap well shorn</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Eve of St. John</b>, Midsummer Day, June <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Eyne</b>, eyes</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Fa’</b> <em>or</em> <b>fa</b>, fall, befall</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Faem</b> <em>or</em> <b>faeme</b>, foam</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fairing</b>, gift, present given at a fair</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fallow deer</b>, small European deer, of a fallow, or pale yellow colour</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fand</b>, found</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fa’se</b>, false</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fashes</b>, troubles</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Faulds</b>, folds</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Faured</b>, favoured</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fause</b>, false</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Feckless</b>, weak, feeble, silly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fee</b>, wealth</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Feircly</b>, fiercely</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fell</b>, sharply, severely, keen, eager</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fere</b>, mate, consort, companion</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ferlie</b>, marvel, wonder</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fidge</b>, fidget</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Flang</b>, flung about, skipped</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Flatter</b>, float</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Flee</b>, flay</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Flude</b>, flood</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Forbode</b>, “Over God’s forbode”; God forbid!</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Forfaulted</b>, forfeited</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Forgather</b>, meet</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Forhooyed</b>, forsook</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fornenst</b>, opposite to</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fou</b>, full</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Frae</b>, from</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Freit</b>, a good or bad omen</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_378"></a>[378]</span><b>Frith</b>, wood, enclosed land</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Fu’</b> <em>or</em> <b>fu</b>, very, full, very much, fully</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Gad</b>, bar</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gae</b>, go</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Galliard</b>, an old-time brisk dance</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gane</b>, suffice, gone</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gang</b>, go</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gar</b>, make, cause, do</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Garr’d</b>, made, caused</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gear</b>, possessions, property, cattle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Geck</b>, mock</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gerfalcon</b>, large falcon of the Northlands</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gi’d</b>, went</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gie</b>, give</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gien</b>, given</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gif</b>, if</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gillore</b>, gallore, in plenty</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gimp</b>, jimp, slender</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gin</b>, if, suppose, granted it be so, whether</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Glaive</b>, sword</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gleg</b>, spry, quick</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gleid</b>, spark</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gloamin</b>, twilight</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Good b’w’ ye</b>, good be with ye, good-bye, derived from the phrase “God be with you,” or “with ye”</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gos-hawk</b> <em>or</em> <b>goss-hawk</b>, large hawk</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Goud</b>, gold</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gouden</b>, golden</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Goun</b>, gown</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Goups</b>, handfuls</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Goved</b>, stared</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gowan</b>, daisy</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gowd</b>, gold</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gowdn</b>, golden</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Graith</b>, make ready</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Grange</b>, farmhouse with outer buildings</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gratte</b>, wept, cried</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Greet</b>, weep</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Grew hound</b>, greyhound, grey</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Grewis</b>, greyhounds</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Groat</b>, old English silver coin worth fourpence issued from 1351-1662</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gude</b>, good</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gudely</b>, goodly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Guid</b>, good</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Guise</b>, manner, behaviour</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gurly</b>, grim, growling, surly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Gyant</b>, giant</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Ha’</b> <em>or</em> <b>ha</b>, hall</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Had</b>, hold</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hadna</b> <em>or</em> <b>hadnae</b>, had not</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hae</b>, have</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Haggis</b>, Scotch dish made of a sheep’s maw filled with minced meat, onions, and other ingredients mixed and cooked with oatmeal</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hail</b>, whole</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Half-fou</b>, two pecks, half a bushel</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Haly</b>, holy</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hame</b>, home</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Han</b>, hand</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hap</b>, chance, fortune</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Happed</b>, covered, wrapped</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Haud</b>, hold, keep</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hauld</b>, hold</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hay</b>, “Went forth to view the hay,” went to see how the hay was coming on</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Heely</b>, slowly, gently</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Her lane</b>, by herself</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Heugh</b>, steep hill, glen with overhanging sides</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hie</b>, haste, high</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hindberrye</b>, wild raspberry</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_379"></a>[379]</span><b>Hing</b>, hang</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hingers</b>, hangers</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hinny</b> <em>or</em> <b>hinnie</b>, honey</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>His lane</b>, by himself</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Holland</b> <em>or</em> <b>hollin</b>, coarse linen, unbleached or dyed brown</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Holt</b>, piece of woodland, a woody hill</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Holy Grail</b>, the holy cup, used by the Lord Christ at the Last Supper, was called in medieval romances, “The Holy Grail”</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Houf</b>, haunt</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hoysed</b>, hoisted</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hurden</b>, coarse linen or hempen fabric</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hye</b> <em>or</em> <b>hie</b>, haste</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hynd</b>, <b>Hynde</b>, <em>or</em> <b>Hind</b>, young, courteous, gracious, gentle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Hypp</b>, fruit of the dog-rose</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>I’</b> <em>or</em> <b>i</b>, in</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ilk</b> <em>or</em> <b>ilka</b>, every, each</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Intill</b>, into, in</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Its lane</b>, by itself</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Jaw</b>, wave</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Jawes</b>, surges</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Jet</b>, strut</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Jimp</b>, slender, slim</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Jimply</b>, barely, scarcely, hardly, narrowly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Joup</b>, petticoat</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Kaim</b>, comb</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kaimin</b>, combing</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kane</b>, tribute</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kell</b>, a cap of network for a woman’s hair</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kemb</b>, comb</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kemed</b>, combed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ken</b>, know</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kendna</b>, did not know</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kenned</b> <em>or</em> <b>kend</b>, knew</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kep</b>, catch, stop</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Keppit</b>, caught</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kirk</b>, church</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kittle</b>, difficult to manage, risky, ticklish</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Knaw</b>, know</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kynast</b>, castle in Northern Germany</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Kythe</b>, appear</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Laddie</b>, diminutive of lad</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Laidley</b>, loathly, loathsome</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Laird</b>, squire, lord of the manor, owner of lands</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Laith</b>, loath</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lan</b>, land</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lane</b>, lone</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lanely</b>, lonely</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lang</b>, long</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lap</b>, sprang, leaped</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lappered</b>, clotted</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lat</b>, let</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Laverock</b>, lark</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lax</b>, relief</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lease</b>, lease (of bucks), three bucks</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Leme</b>, gleam</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lend</b>, grant, give</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lettn</b>, let</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Leven</b>, lawn, glade, open ground in the forest</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Leveret</b>, hare</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Liffe</b>, life</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lift</b>, air, sky</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Liften</b>, lifted</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lighters</b>, horse-blinders or blinkers</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Liken</b>, make like</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lish</b>, lithe, supple, agile</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lither</b>, lazy, idle, worthless, wicked</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Littand</b>, staining, defiling</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Live-lang</b>, live-long</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_380"></a>[380]</span><b>Lo’ed</b>, loved</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lood</b>, loved</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Loof</b>, palm of the hand</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Loon</b>, fellow, rogue</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Loot</b>, let, allowed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lout</b>, bend, bow, lean</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lowed</b>, glowed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lown</b>, calm, serene, silent, quiet</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lug</b>, ear</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Luve</b>, love</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lyart</b>, grey, hoary</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lydder</b>, lazy, idle, loathsome</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lyon’s moods</b>, this possibly means like the mood or pluck of lions; authorities differ as to readings</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Lyth</b>, member, joint</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Mae</b>, more</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Maik</b> <em>or</em> <b>maike</b>, mate</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mair</b>, more</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Make</b>, mate, consort</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>March</b> <em>or</em> <b>Marches</b>, border-frontier, the boundary between England and Scotland. Warden of the March, governor of the Scotch Border</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Marrow</b>, mate, wife, husband</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Martinmas</b>, mass or feast of St. Martin, November 11</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Maun</b>, must</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Maunna</b>, must not</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mavis</b>, thrush</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>May</b>, maid</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Meet</b>, scant, close</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Meikle</b>, much, great</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Merl</b> <em>or</em> <b>merle</b>, blackbird</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Merk</b> <em>or</em> <b>mark</b>, about 13s. 4d. in the English money of the time</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mess</b>, mass</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mickle</b>, much, great</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Middle</b>, waist</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Midsummer Day</b>, June 24</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Minny</b> <em>or</em> <b>minnie</b>, mother</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mirk</b>, dark</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mither</b>, mother</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Monmouth Cap</b>, flat round cap formerly worn by English soldiers and sailors. Shakespeare mentions it in <em>Henry V</em></li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mony</b> <em>or</em> <b>monie</b>, many, money</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mote</b>, may</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Mountain-mere</b>, mountain-lake</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Muir</b>, moor</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Na</b>, no, not</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Nae</b>, no</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Naething</b>, nothing</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Nane</b>, none</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Nappy</b>, heady, strong</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Neer</b>, never, ne’er</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Neest</b>, nearest, next</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Neir</b>, never, ne’er</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Neist</b>, next</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Nicht</b>, night</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Nowt</b>, neat cattle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Nurice</b> <em>or</em> <b>nourice</b>, nurse</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>O’</b> <em>or</em> <b>o</b>, of</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>O’erword</b>, refrain, call, cry</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ony</b>, any</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ower</b>, over</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Owre</b>, before, over</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Palfray</b>, small saddle-horse for ladies, palfrey</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Pall</b>, cloak, mantle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Palmer</b>, Pilgrim returned from Holy Land bearing, as a badge, a branch of palm</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Paughty</b>, haughty</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Philabeg</b>, highland kilt</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Pibroch</b>, a Highland dirge or martial air, a kind of wild, irregular music, performed on the bagpipe</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_381"></a>[381]</span><b>Pickle</b>, choice</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="PIN"></a><b>Pin</b>, an implement for raising the latch of a door, <em>see</em> <a href="#TIRLED">tirled</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Pine</b>, suffering, pain</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Plait</b>, fold, plate</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Plate-jack</b>, coat-armour</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Pock-puddings</b>, bag-puddings</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Prie</b>, attain</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Prieven</b>, attained</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Prin</b>, pin</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Pu’</b> <em>or</em> <b>pu</b>, pull</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Pu’d</b>, pulled</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Putten</b>, put</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Quarry</b>, slaughtered game</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Quean</b>, saucy girl or young woman</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Rad</b>, afraid</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rade</b>, rode</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rae</b>, roe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Raike</b>, range</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rail</b>, woman’s jacket</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ravin</b>, violent</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Raw</b>, row</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ray</b>, array</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Reavers</b>, robbers</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Reaving</b>, thieving, robbing</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rede</b>, counsel</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Reek</b>, smoke</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Reifed</b>, stolen, plundered</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Reifery</b>, robbery, plundering</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rife</b>, abounding</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rins</b>, runs</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rock</b>, distaff used in spinning</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rode</b> <em>or</em> <b>Rood</b>, Holy Cross, crucifix, <em>see also</em> <a href="#BLACK_ROOD">Black Rood of Melrose</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Roul</b>, roll</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Roun’</b> <em>or</em> <b>roun</b>, round, around about</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rowan Tree</b>, mountain ash, which is also called the Fairies’ tree because Witches and Evil Spirits are said to fear it</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rowed</b>, rolled, wound</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Rowt</b>, roar</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>St. John’s Eve</b>, Midsummer Day, June 24</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sae</b>, so</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Saft</b>, soft, softly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Saikless</b>, innocent</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sained</b>, crossed, blessed, hallowed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sair</b>, sore, painful, very much</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sail</b>, shall</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Satten</b>, satin</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Saul</b>, soul</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Saut</b>, salt</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sax</b>, six</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Scallop-shell</b>, a small fluted shell. In the middle ages, Pilgrims used to wear scallop-shells as badges of their pilgrimage</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Scaur</b>, steep bank overhanging a river, a cliff</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Scorke</b>, struck</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Scot-free</b>, the word “scot” means payment, fine, reckoning, tax. Scot-free means free from payment; also, without harm, unhurt, safe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Screen</b>, plaid, cloak, large scarf thrown over the head</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Scrip</b>, small bag, Pilgrim’s pouch</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sea-maw</b>, gull, sea mew</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sen</b>, sent</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sets with</b>, suits</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Seymar</b>, loose robe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Share of Truth</b>, ploughshare of Truth—used as figurative language</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_382"></a>[382]</span><b>Shathmont</b>, measure from top of extended thumb to the extremity of palm—six inches</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Shaw</b>, thicket, copse</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sheave</b>, slice.</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sheen</b>, bright, shining</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sheugh</b>, trench, ditch, furrow</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Shoon</b>, shoes</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Shot-window</b>, projecting window in the stair case of old Scotch wooden house</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sic</b>, such</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sichin</b>, sighing</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sicken</b>, such</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Siller</b>, silver</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Simmer</b>, summer</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sin</b>, since</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sin</b>, “Thankless sins the gifts he gets,” probably means to hold them in slight esteem. (Footnote in Scott)</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Skaith</b>, harm, an injury</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Skald</b>, ancient Scandinavian poet or bard</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Skaw</b>, promontory or low cape</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Skeely</b>, skilful</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Skelping</b>, moving rapidly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Skoal</b>, hail!</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sleeks</b>, makes smooth</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Slogan</b>, war-cry of the Scottish Highlanders</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sma</b> <em>or</em> <b>sma’</b>, small</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Snaw</b>, snow</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Snell</b>, sharp, keen, shrill, bitter</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Snickersnee</b>, sailor’s sheath-knife or bowie knife</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Snood</b>, hair-band</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Snoove</b>, go smoothly and constantly</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Solan</b>, gannet, solan-goose</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Solempne</b>, solemn</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sommer</b>, summer</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sonsy</b> <em>or</em> <b>Sonsie</b>, plump</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sorning</b>, spunging, obtruding</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Soudron</b> <em>or</em> <b>Southron</b>, southern, the English</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Spak</b>, spake, spoke</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Spankie</b>, sprightly, friskly, smart</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Speer</b>, ask</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sperthe</b>, battle-axe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Spier</b>, spear</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sta</b>, stole</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stane</b>, stone</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stead</b>, dwelling-place</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Steek</b>, stitch</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Step minnie</b>, stepmother</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stern-light</b>, starlight</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stour</b> <em>or</em> <b>stoure</b>, dust, skirmish, struggle, battle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stown</b>, stolen</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Strack</b>, struck</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stran</b>, strand</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Strang</b>, strong</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Strath</b>, valley thro’ which a river runs</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stron</b>, the end of a ridge of hills</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Stude</b>, stood</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sucket</b>, sugar-plum</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Suld</b>, should</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Sune</b>, soon</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Swa’d</b>, swelled</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Syke</b>, marsh</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Syle</b>, soil</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Syne</b>, then, afterward, since</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Tae</b>, toe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ta’en</b> <em>or</em> <b>taen</b>, taken</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Taffetie</b>, taffeta</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Taiglit</b>, tarried</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Taiken</b>, token</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tak</b>, take</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tald</b>, told</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tale</b>, number, count</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tane</b>, taken</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tauld</b>, told</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Teind</b>, tithe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tent</b>, take care of, watch, guard</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tent</b>, Spanish wine of a deep red colour</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_383"></a>[383]</span><b>Termagant</b>, a pagan deity, whom the Crusaders said was worshipped by the Mohammedans</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tett</b>, lock of hair or of a mane</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Thae</b>, thesef those</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Then</b>, than</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Thie</b>, thigh</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Thimber</b>, heavy, massive</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Thir</b>, those, these</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Thysell</b>, thyself</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Till</b>, to</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tinkler</b>, tinker</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tint</b>, lost</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="TIRLED"></a><b>Tirled</b> <em>or</em> <b>tirld</b>, twist or rattle. “Tirld at the pin,” <em>see</em> <a href="#PIN">Pin</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tod</b>, fox</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Toom</b>, empty</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Touchstone</b>, a kind of compact stone used to test gold and silver</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Toun</b>, hamlet, farmhouse</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Trailed</b>, dragged</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tree</b>, wood, made of wood</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Trow</b>, trust, believe, think</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Tryst</b>, appointed place of meeting, also appointment to meet</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Turtle-doo</b>, turtle-dove</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Twa</b>, two</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Twae</b>, two</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Twin’d</b>, deprived, parted</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Ugsome</b>, exciting disgust, abhorrent</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Ummeled</b>, unmixed, pure</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Upgive</b>, avow, own up</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Upo</b>, on, to, with, at, in</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Vair</b>, squirrel-fur</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Vaunt-brace</b>, armour for the body</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Verra</b>, very</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><b>Wa’</b> <em>or</em> <b>wa</b>, wall</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wad</b>, would</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wae</b>, woe</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Waik</b>, glade</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wained</b>, carried, removed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Waith</b>, wandering, roaming, straying</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wall-wightmen</b>, picked, strong men</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Waly</b>, exclamation of admiration</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wan</b>, won</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wap</b>, wrap, stuff</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>War’d</b>, expended, used</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Warden</b>, keeper, guardian. Warden of the March, governor of the Scotch Border</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Warden Pies</b>, pies made of warden pears—large pears</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Warld</b>, world</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Warlock</b>, sorcerer, wizard</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Warse</b>, worse</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Warst</b>, worst</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wasna</b>, was not</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wassail-bout</b>, drinking revel, carouse</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wat</b>, wet</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wauking</b>, watch, walk</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Weel</b>, well</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Weet</b>, wet</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Weir</b>, to collect and drive cattle</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Weird</b>, Destiny, Fate, Fortune</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Well-kent</b>, well-known</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wene</b>, recess</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wer-wolf</b>, person transformed into a wolf</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Westlin</b>, Western</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wha</b>, who</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Whare</b>, where</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Whaten</b>, what sort, what kind</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Whidderan</b>, whizzing</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Whin-bushes</b>, furze, gorse</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wi’</b> <em>or</em> <b>wi</b>, with</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Win</b>, wind</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Win in</b>, get in</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Winna</b>, will not</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wis</b>, know</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_384"></a>[384]</span><b>Withouten</b> <em>or</em> <b>withoutten</b>, without</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wodensday</b>, Wednesday, derived from the name of the Anglo-Saxon god, Woden; which name meant “the furious” or “the mighty warrior”</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wold</b>, would</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wold</b>, open tract of country</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Woned</b>, dwelt</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wot</b>, know</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Wud</b>, would</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><a id="Y"></a><b>Y</b> <em>or</em> <b>I</b>, a prefix to many Middle English words, often used (specially with past-participles) to intensify their meanings</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yallow</b>, yellow</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yate</b>, gate</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Y-built</b>, <em>see above</em> <a href="#Y">Y or I</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yer sel</b>, yourself</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yett</b>, gate</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yont</b>, beyond</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yorlin</b>, yellow-hammer</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yoursell</b>, yourself</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Yowlit</b>, yowled, howled, yelped</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Y-wis</b>, <b>i-wis</b>, certainly, surely, truly, to wit, indeed</li> - -<li class="indx"><b>Y-wrought</b>, <em>see above</em> <a href="#Y">Y or I</a></li> -</ul> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_385"></a>[385]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="SUBJECT_INDEX">SUBJECT INDEX</h3> -</div> - - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Affection</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Child of Elle, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Fairy Tempter, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Alfred the Great</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Ballads, Educational Use</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Foreword, <a href="#Page_vii">vii</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Suggestions for Teachers, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ballads, Literary Comment on</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Addison, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Spenser, <a href="#Page_xi">xi</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Stedman, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sydney, <a href="#Page_xii">xii</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ballads, Programme for Teaching</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Suggestions for Teachers, <a href="#Page_363">363</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>See also</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#DRAMATICS">Dramatics</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Beltan</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#MAY_DAY">May Day</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bird Friends</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl of Mar’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Gay Goss-Hawk, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Singing Leaves, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="BORDER_BALLADS"></a><span class="smcap">Border Ballads</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Belted Will, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Chevy-Chase, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Galloway Raid, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Brothers and Sisters</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Fairy Tempter, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Proud Lady Margaret, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Valentine and Ursine, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Bruce, Robert, King of Scotland</span>: Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Cakes, Burning of</span>:</li> -<li class="isub2">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Chevy-Chase</span>: Chevy-Chase, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Chivalry</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Child of Elle, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Valentine and Ursine, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Christ</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Barclay of Ury, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Pilgrimage, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Royal Court, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Christ-Child</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Three Kings, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Christmas</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Three Kings, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Clorinda</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Constancy</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Bonny Baby Livingston, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Dæmon Lover, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Earl March Looked on his Dying Child,” <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Fair Anny of Roch-royal, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Gay Goss-Hawk, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Hynd Horn, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lord Lovel, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Mermaid, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sweet William’s Ghost, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Beichan and Susie Pye, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cophetua</span>: Beggar-Maid, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Corrievreckan</span>: Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="COURAGE"></a><span class="smcap">Courage and Heroism</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Chevy-Chase, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Famous Flower of Serving-Men, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kemp Owyne, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Pilgrim, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_386"></a>[386]</span>Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Patrick Spens, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Song of the Outlaw Murray, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>See also</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#MAIDS_AND_LASSIES">Maids and Lassies, Brave and True</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Cruelty</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#RETRIBUTION">Retribution</a></span>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Dee</span>: Sands of Dee, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="DEMOCRATIC_BALLADS"></a><span class="smcap">Democratic Ballads</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Frolicksome Duke, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">King James the First and the Tinkler, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="DRAMATICS"></a><span class="smcap">Dramatics, Ballads Suitable for</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of the Oysterman, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Beggar-Maid, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Dæmon Lover, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl Haldan’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Earl March Looked on his Dying Child,” <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Erl-King, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Gay Goss-Hawk, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Glenara, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kemp Owyne, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">King James the First and the Tinkler, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady of Shalott, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Noble Riddle, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Stormy Winds Do Blow, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Thomas the Rhymer, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Tragic Story, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Tamlane, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>Many other ballads in this book may be dramatized.</em></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Dwarfs</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Belted Will, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Edenhall</span>: Luck of Edenhall, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Eildon Tree</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Eve of St. John, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Thomas the Rhymer, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>See also</em> <span class="smcap">Glossary</span> <em>under</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#EILDON_TREE">Eildon Tree</a></span>, p. <a href="#Page_377">377</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Elves</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#FAIRIES">Fairies</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="ENCHANTMENT"></a><span class="smcap">Enchantment and Mystery</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl of Mar’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Fairy Thorn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kemp Owyne, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">La Belle Dame sans Merci, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady of Shalott, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Luck of Edenhall, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">May of the Moril Glen, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Mermaid, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>See also</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#FAIRIES">Fairies and Fairyland</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Endurance</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Erl-King</span>: Erl-King, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Ettrick</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Song of the Outlaw Murray, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Eve of St. John</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#MIDSUMMER_DAY">Midsummer Day and St. John’s Day</a></span>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><a id="FAIRIES"></a><span class="smcap">Fairies and Fairyland</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Erl-King, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Fairy Tempter, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Fairy Thorn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kilmeny, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">La Belle Dame sans Merci, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">May of the Moril Glen, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Thomas the Rhymer, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Tamlane, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fair Play</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Farm Customs</span>: King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Fathers</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Child of Elle, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Erl-King, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_387"></a>[387]</span><span class="smcap">Forest</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#GREENWOOD">Greenwood</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Friendship</span>: Royal Court, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Ghost-story Ballads</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#HALLOWEEN">Halloween and Ghost Stories</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Giants</span>: Valentine and Ursine, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Goss-Hawks</span>: Gay Goss-Hawk, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="GREENWOOD"></a><span class="smcap">Greenwood</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Birth o’ Robin Hood, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Fairy Tempter, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Royal Court, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Song of the Outlaw Murray, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Valentine and Ursine, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><a id="HALLOWEEN"></a><span class="smcap">Hallowe’en and Ghost Stories</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Dæmon Lover, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Eve of St. John, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Proud Lady Margaret, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Roland, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Skeleton in Armour, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sweet William’s Ghost, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Wife of Usher’s Well, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Tamlane, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Haughtiness</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#PRIDE">Pride and Vanity</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hawthorn</span>: Fairy Thorn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Heroism</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#COURAGE">Courage and Heroism</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Holy Grail</span>: Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Humour</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of the Oysterman, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Brian o’Linn, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cinder King, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Dicky of Ballyman, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Frolicksome Duke, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">King James the First and the Tinkler, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Little Billee, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">May of the Moril Glen, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Tragic Story, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Hunting</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Chevy-Chase, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">James the First, King of England</span>: King James the First and the Tinkler, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Kelpies</span>: Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Knights and Ladies</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl Haldan’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Famous Flower of Serving-Men, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Gay Goss-Hawk, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kemp Owyne, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lochinvar, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lord Lovel, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Proud Lady Margaret, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kunigunde</span>: Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Kynast</span>: Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Labour Day</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#DEMOCRATIC_BALLADS">Democratic Ballads</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Laidley Worms</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Kemp Owyne, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Little John</span>: Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Magi</span>: Three Kings, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="MAIDS_AND_LASSIES"></a><span class="smcap">Maids and Lassies, Brave and True</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_388"></a>[388]</span>Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Bonny Baby Livingston, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sweet William’s Ghost, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Beichan and Susie Pye, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Tamlane, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Martinmas (November 11)</span>: Wife of Usher’s Well, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="MAY_DAY"></a><span class="smcap">May Day or Beltan (May 1)</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">The Spell, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mermaids</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Mermaid, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Stormy Winds Do Blow, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="MIDSUMMER_DAY"></a><span class="smcap">Midsummer Day and St. John’s Day (June 24)</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Eve of St. John, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">The Spell, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Moors</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Beichan and Susie Pye, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Moral Courage</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Barclay of Ury, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">True Valour, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mothers</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Valentine and Ursine, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Wife of Usher’s Well, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mountain Ash</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#ROWAN_TREE">Rowan Tree</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Mystery Ballads</span>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#ENCHANTMENT">Enchantment and Mystery</a></span>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>also</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#HALLOWEEN">Halloween and Ghost Stories</a></span>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Outlaws</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Birth o’ Robin Hood, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Song of the Outlaw Murray, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Palmers</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#PILGRIMS">Pilgrims and Pilgrimage</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Peace</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Peace, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Pilgrimage, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Royal Court, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="PILGRIMS"></a><span class="smcap">Pilgrims and Pilgrimage</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Pilgrim, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Pilgrimage, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">True Valour, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="PRIDE"></a><span class="smcap">Pride and Vanity</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl Haldan’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Proud Lady Margaret, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Punishment</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#RETRIBUTION">Retribution</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Purity</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Kilmeny, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Quakers</span>: Barclay of Ury, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Raids and Reaving</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#BORDER_BALLADS">Border Ballads</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Religious Ballads and Verses</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Barclay of Ury, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Pilgrim, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Pilgrimage, <a href="#Page_351">351</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Royal Court, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="RETRIBUTION"></a><span class="smcap">Retribution</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Belted Will, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cruelty of Barbara Allen, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Dæmon Lover, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl Haldan’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Eve of St. John, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Roland, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_389"></a>[389]</span><span class="smcap">Robin Hood</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Birth o’ Robin Hood, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="ROMANCE"></a><span class="smcap">Romance and Lovers</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Bonny Baby Livingston, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Child of Elle, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Cruel Sister, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">“Earl March Looked on his Dying Child,” <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl of Mar’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Famous Flower of Serving-Men, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Hynd Horn, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lochinvar, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Lord Lovel, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">May of the Moril Glen, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Noble Riddle, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Singing Leaves, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Skeleton in Armour, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sweet William’s Ghost, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Beichan and Susie Pye, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Tamlane, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="ROWAN_TREE"></a><span class="smcap">Rowan Tree or Mountain Ash</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Fairy Thorn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Sailors</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Dæmon Lover, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Little Billee, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Patrick Spens, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Stormy Winds Do Blow, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">St. John’s Eve</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#MIDSUMMER_DAY">Midsummer Day and St. John’s Day</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Salem</span>: Peace, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Sea Ballads</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Dæmon Lover, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Earl Haldan’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Fair Anny of Roch-royal, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kemp Owyne, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Little Billee, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Mermaid, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sands of Dee, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Sir Patrick Spens, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Stormy Winds Do Blow, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Shepherds</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Sherwood Forest</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Spindleston-Heughs</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Tamlane</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Young Tamlane, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Tinkers</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Frolicksome Duke, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">King James the First and the Tinkler, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Three Wise Men</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Three Kings, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">True Thomas</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Thomas the Rhymer, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Valentine Day</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Valentine and Ursine, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>.</li> -<li class="isub1"><em>See also</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#ROMANCE">Romance and Lovers</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Valour</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#COURAGE">Courage and Heroism</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Vanity</span>; <em>see</em> <span class="smcap"><a href="#PRIDE">Pride and Vanity</a></span>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Vikings</span>: Skeleton in Armour, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.</li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="smcap">Witches</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Laidley Worm, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="smcap">Womanliness</span>:</li> -<li class="isub1">Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Beggar-Maid, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Child of Elle, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Kilmeny, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Singing Leaves, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> -</ul> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_390"></a>[390]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="INDEX_OF_FIRST_LINES">INDEX OF FIRST LINES</h3> -</div> - - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">A fair girl was sitting in the greenwood shade, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">A Man there came, whence none could tell, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">And mony ane sings o’ grass, o’ grass, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx">And now, to be brief, let’s pass over the rest, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">As I was walking all alane, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">At eve last Midsummer, no sleep I sought, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Bonny Kilmeny gaed up the glen, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brian O’Linn was a gentleman born, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Earl March looked on his dying child, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ettrick Forest is a fair forest, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Fair Margret was a young ladye, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">“Get up, our Anna dear, from the weary spinning-wheel,” <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Give me my Scallop-shell of Quiet, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">God prosper long our noble King, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">He mounted his steed of the water clear, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Her arms across her breast she laid, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Her mother died when she was young, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">“If thou canst answer me questions three,” <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx">In elder time there was of yore, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">In London was young Beichan born, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">In Royal Courts my Soul hath slept, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li> - -<li class="indx">In Scarlet Town, where I was bound, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">It was a tall young Oysterman, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx">It was Earl Haldan’s daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="indx">It was intill a pleasant time, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx">It was the time when lilies blow, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">I will tell you of ane wondrous tale, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Listen, now, both great and simple, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lord Lovel he stood at his castle gate, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Merry it is in the good greenwood, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">My good blade carves the casques of men, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Near the King’s Court was a young child born, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Now, as fame does report, a young Duke keeps a Court, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">O bonny Baby Livingston, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“O I forbid ye, maidens a’,” <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_391"></a>[391]</span>“O Mary, go and call the cattle home,” <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“O waly, waly, my gay goss-hawk,” <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“O wha will shoe my fu fair foot,” <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“O where have you been, my long, long love,” <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Of Edenhall, the youthful Lord, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oh! heard ye yon pibroch sound sad in the gale, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oh! who rides by night thro’ the woodland so wild, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oh! young Lochinvar is come out of the West, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx">On either side the river lie, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">On Jura’s heath how sweetly swell, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">On New Year’s Day, as I heard say, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">On yonder hill a castle stands, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">One Friday morn when we set sail, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">She said, “This narrow chamber is not for me the place,” <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Speak! speak! thou fearful guest!” <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sweet Peace, where dost thou dwell, I humbly crave, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">The Baron of Smaylho’me rose with day, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">The Baron of Thirlwall came from the wars, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">The good Lord Douglas paced the deck, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> - -<li class="indx">The King is gone from Bambrough Castle, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">The king sits in Dunfermline town, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">The moonbeam glints on tower and hill, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">The reavers of Eskdale were mounted for weir, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">There came a ghost to Margret’s door, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - -<li class="indx">There lived a sage in days of yore, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">There lived a wife at Usher’s Well, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">There was a maid, richly arrayd, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">There were three sailors of Bristol city, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="indx">There were two sisters sat in a bour, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Three Kings came riding from far away, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> - -<li class="indx">True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Up the streets of Aberdeen, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Whan he cam to his ain luve’s bouir, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">What Danger is the Pilgrim in, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“What fairings will ye that I bring,” <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">When Flora ’gins to deck the fields, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> - -<li class="indx">When Robin Hood came into merry Sherwood, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx">When Robin Hood was about twenty years old, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Who is it that sits in the kitchen and weeps, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Who would true Valour see, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">You beautious ladies, great and small, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> -</ul> -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_392"></a>[392]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="INDEX_OF_TITLES_AND_AUTHORS">INDEX OF TITLES AND AUTHORS</h3> -</div> - -<p class="pfs70"><em>With references from titles of other ballad-versions</em></p> - - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Allingham, Touchstone, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Annie Livingston, <em>see</em> <a href="#BONNY_BABY">Bonny Baby Livingston</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Annie of Loch Royan, <em>see</em> <a href="#FAIR_ANNY">Fair Anny of Roch-royal</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aytoun, Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><a id="BALLAD_OF_MEIKLE"></a>Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ballad of the Oysterman, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="BARBARA"></a>Barbara Allen’s Cruelty, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barclay of Ury, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beggar-Maid, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Beichan and Susie Pye, <em>see</em> <a href="#YOUNG_BEICHAN">Young Beichan and Susie Pye</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Belle Dame sans Merci, <em>see</em> <a href="#LA_BELLE_DAME">La Belle Dame sans Merci</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Belted Will, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Binnorie, <em>see</em> <a href="#CRUEL_SISTER">The Cruel Sister</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Birth o’ Robin Hood, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Blancheflour and Jellyflorice, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bonnie Milldams o’ Binnorie, <em>see</em> <a href="#CRUEL_SISTER">The Cruel Sister</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="BONNY_BABY"></a>Bonny Baby Livingston, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bonny Barbara Allan, <em>see</em> <a href="#CRUELTY">Cruelty of Barbara Allen</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bonny Kilmeny, <em>see</em> <a href="#KILMENY_I">Kilmeny</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Brian O’Linn, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bunyan, The Pilgrim, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bunyan, True Valour, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Campbell, Glenara, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Campbell, Song,—Earl March Looked on his Dying Child, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chevy-Chase, <em>see</em> <a href="#MORE_MODERN">More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Child of Elle, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cinder King, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="COCHRANE"></a>Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="CRUEL_SISTER"></a>Cruel Sister, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="CRUELTY"></a>Cruelty of Barbara Allen, <em>see</em> <a href="#BARBARA">Barbara Allen’s Cruelty</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Dæmon Lover, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dicky of Ballyman, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Earl Haldan’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Earl March Looked on his Dying Child, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Earl of Mar’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ercildoune, Thomas of, <em>see</em> <a href="#THOMAS">Thomas the Rhymer</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Erl-King, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ettrick Shepherd, Kilmeny, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ettrick Shepherd, May of the Moril Glen, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eve of St. John, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><a id="FAIR_ANNY"></a>Fair Anny of Roch-royal (<em>same as</em> Annie of Loch Royan), <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fairy Tempter, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fairy Thorn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="FAMOUS_FLOWER"></a>Famous Flower of Serving-Men, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ferguson, Fairy Thorn, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="FROLICKSOME_DUKE"></a>Frolicksome Duke; or, The Tinker’s Good Fortune, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Galloway Raid, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gay, The Spell, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_393"></a>[393]</span><a id="GAY_GOSS"></a>Gay Goss-Hawk, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glenara, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Goethe, Erl-King, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="GREETING"></a>Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Grizzy Cochrane’s Ride, <em>see</em> <a href="#COCHRANE">Cochrane’s Bonny Grizzy</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Heart of the Bruce, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herbert, Peace, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hind Horn, <em>see</em> <a href="#HYND">Hynd Horn</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hogg, Kilmeny, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hogg, May of the Moril Glen, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Holmes, Ballad of the Oysterman, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hunting of the Cheviot, <em>see</em> <a href="#MORE_MODERN">More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="HYND"></a>Hynd Horn, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Jolly Goss-Hawk, <em>see</em> <a href="#GAY_GOSS">Gay Goss-Hawk</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Keats, La Belle Dame sans Merci, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kemp Owyne (<em>same as</em> Kempion), <a href="#Page_122">122</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="KILMENY_I"></a>Kilmeny, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">King Alfred and the Shepherd, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">King James the First and the Tinkler, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kingsley, Earl Haldan’s Daughter, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kingsley, Sands of Dee, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kynast, <em>see</em> <a href="#GREETING">Greeting of Kynast</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><a id="LA_BELLE_DAME"></a>La Belle Dame sans Merci, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lady of Shalott, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lady Turned Serving-Man, <em>see</em> <a href="#FAMOUS_FLOWER">Famous Flower of Serving-Men</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Laidley Worm o’ Spindleston-Heughs, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lass of Lochroyan, <em>see</em> <a href="#FAIR_ANNY">Fair Anny of Roch-royal</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leyden, Mermaid, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Little Billee, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="LOCHINVAR_I"></a>Lochinvar, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Longfellow (from Uhland), Luck of Edenhall, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Longfellow, Skeleton in Armour, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Longfellow, Three Kings, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lord Beichan, <em>see</em> <a href="#YOUNG_BEICHAN">Young Beichan and Susie Pye</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lord Lovel, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lover, Fairy Tempter, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lowell, Singing Leaves, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Luck of Edenhall, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Mackay, Kelpie of Corrievreckan, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">May of the Moril Glen, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Meikle-Mouthed Meg, <em>see</em> <a href="#BALLAD_OF_MEIKLE">Ballad of Meikle-Mouthed Meg</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mermaid, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="MORE_MODERN"></a>More Modern Ballad of Chevy-Chase, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Noble Riddle, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Outlaw Murray, <em>see</em> <a href="#OUTLAW_MURRAY">Song of the Outlaw Murray</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oysterman, Ballad of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Peace, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pilgrim, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pilgrimage, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Proud Lady Margaret, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Raleigh, Pilgrimage, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Robin Hood and Clorinda, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Robin Hood and Little John, <a href="#Page_291">291</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Royal Court, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_394"></a>[394]</span>Rückert, Greeting of Kynast, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Sands of Dee, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Alice Brand, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Eve of St. John, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scott, Lochinvar, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sheldon, Belted Will, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Singing Leaves, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="SIR_PATRICK"></a>Sir Patrick Spens, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sir Roland, <a href="#Page_265">265</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Skeleton in Armour, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Skipper Patrick, <em>see</em> <a href="#SIR_PATRICK">Sir Patrick Spens</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Song: Earl March Looked on his Dying Child, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="OUTLAW_MURRAY"></a>Song of the Outlaw Murray, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Spell, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stormy Winds do Blow, <a href="#Page_2">2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sweet William’s Ghost, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Tamlane (or Tamlin), <em>see</em> <a href="#YOUNG_TAMLANE">Young Tamlane</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tennyson, Beggar-Maid, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tennyson, Lady Clare, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tennyson, Lady of Shalott, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tennyson, Sir Galahad, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thackeray, Little Billee, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thackeray, Tragic Story, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="THOMAS"></a>Thomas the Rhymer (or Thomas of Ercildoune), <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Three Kings, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tinker’s Good Fortune, <em>see</em> <a href="#FROLICKSOME_DUKE">The Frolicksome Duke</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Touchstone, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tragic Story, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">True Thomas, <em>see</em> <a href="#THOMAS">Thomas the Rhymer</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">True Valour, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Twa Sisters, <em>see</em> <a href="#CRUEL_SISTER">The Cruel Sister</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Uhland, Luck of Edenhall, <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Valentine and Ursine, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst">Wee Wee Man, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Whittier, Barclay of Ury, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wife of Usher’s Well, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - - -<li class="ifrst"><a id="YOUNG_BEICHAN"></a>Young Beichan and Susie Pye, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Young Bondwell, <em>see</em> <a href="#YOUNG_BEICHAN">Young Beichan and Susie Pye</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Young Hynd Horn, <em>see</em> <a href="#HYND">Hynd Horn</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Young Lochinvar, <em>see</em> <a href="#LOCHINVAR_I">Lochinvar</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="YOUNG_TAMLANE"></a>Young Tamlane, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> -</ul> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES:</h2> -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> See Foreword, page vii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> See Acknowledgments, p. xv, and Foreword, p. vii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p> </p> -<hr class="chap" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -</div> - -<div class="transnote"> -<p class="center bold">Transcriber’s Note</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>Obvious printer and scanning errors have been silently corrected.</p> - -<p>Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation such as -“green-wood/greenwood” have been maintained.</p> - -<ol> -<li> <a href="#tn62">Page 62</a>: “coud” changed to “could”.</li> -</ol> - </div> -</div> - -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORY-TELLING BALLADS***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 63858-h.htm or 63858-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/8/5/63858">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/8/5/63858</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - 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