Draw me near, draw me near,
Draw me near, ye jolly jugglere!
1.
Here beside dwelleth
A rich baron's daughter;
She would have no man
That for her love had sought her.
_So nice she was!_
2.
She would have no man
That was made of mould,
But if he had a mouth of gold
To kiss her when she would.
_So dangerous she was!_
3.
Thereof heard a jolly juggler
That laid was on the green;
And at this lady's words
I wis he had great teen.
_An-ang'red he was!_
4.
He juggled to him a well good steed
Of an old horse-bone,
A saddle and a bridle both,
And set himself thereon.
_A juggler he was!_
5.
He pricked and pranced both
Before that lady's gate;
She wend he [had] been an angel
Was come for her sake.
_A pricker he was!_
6.
He pricked and pranced
Before that lady's bower;
She wend he had been an angel
Come from heaven tower.
_A prancer he was!_
7.
Four-and-twenty knights
Led him into the hall,
And as many squires
His horse to the stall,
_And gave him meat_.
8.
They gave him oats
And also hay;
He was an old shrew
And held his head away.
_He would not eat._
9.
The day began to pass,
The night began to come,
To bed was brought
The fair gentlewoman,
_And the juggler also_.
10.
The night began to pass,
The day began to spring;
All the birds of her bower,
They began to sing,
_And the cuckoo also_!
11.
'Where be ye, my merry maidens,
That ye come not me to?
The jolly windows of my bower
Look that you undo,
_That I may see_!
12.
'For I have in mine arms
A duke or else an earl.'
But when she looked him upon,
He was a blear-eyed churl.
_'Alas!' she said._
13.
She led him to an hill,
And hanged should he be.
He juggled himself to a meal-pock;
The dust fell in her eye;
_Beguiled she was_.
14.
God and our Lady
And sweet Saint Joham
Send every giglot of this town
Such another leman,
_Even as he was_!
[Annotations:
2.3: 'But if,' unless.
3.4: 'teen,' wrath.
5.3, 6.3: 'wend,' thought.
5.3: 'had' omitted in the manuscript.
8.3: 'He': the manuscript reads '&.'
13.3: 'meal-pock,' meal-bag.
14.3: 'giglot,' wench.]
INDEX OF TITLES
PAGE
Baron of Brackley, The, 122
Battle of Harlaw, The, 194
Battle of Otterburn, The, 16
Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, 133
Bewick and Grahame, 101
Braes of Yarrow, The, 34
Captain Car, 62
Clyde's Water, 140
Death of Parcy Reed, The, 93
Dick o' the Cow, 75
Durham Field, 181