The rain rins doun through Mirry-land toune,
Sae dois it doune the Pa:
Sae dois the lads of Mirry-land toune,
Quhan they play at the ba’.
Than out and cam the Jewis dochter,
Said, will ye cum in and dine?
“I winnae cum in, I cannae cum in,
Without my play-feres nine.”
Scho powd an apple reid and white
To intice the zong thing in:
Scho powd an apple white and reid,
And that the sweit bairne did win.
And scho has taine out a little pen-knife,
And low down by her gair,
Scho has twin’d the zong thing and his life;
A word he nevir spak mair.
And out and cam the thick thick bluid,
And out and cam the thin;
And out and cam the bonny herts bluid:
Thair was nae life left in.
Scho laid him on a dressing borde,
And drest him like a swine,
And laughing said, gae nou and pley
With zour sweit play-feres nine.
Scho rowd him in a cake of lead,
Bade him lie stil and sleip.
Scho cast him in a deip draw-well,
Was fifty fadom deip.
Quhan bells wer rung, and mass was sung,
And every lady went hame:
Than ilka lady had her zong sonne,
But Lady Helen had nane.
Scho rowd hir mantil hir about,
And sair sair gan she weip;
And she ran into the Jewis castel
Quhan they wer all asleip.
My bonny Sir Hew, my pretty Sir Hew,
I pray thee to me speik.
“O lady, rinn to the deip draw-well,
Gin ze zour sonne wad seik.”
Lady Helen ran to the deip draw-well,
And knelt upon her kne:
My bonny Sir Hew, an ze be here,
I pray thee speik to me.
“The lead is wondrous heavy, mither,
The well is wondrous deip,
A keen pen-knife sticks in my hert,
A word I donnae speik.
“Gae hame, gae hame, my mither deir,
Fetch me my windling sheet,
And at the back o’ Mirry-land toune
Its thair we twa sall meet.”
Chaucer, in the last stanza of his Prioress’s Tale, has the following
three lines, which are probably the conclusion of the above:――.
“Oh, young Hew of Lincoln slain also
With cursed Jews, as it is notable,
For it n’is but a little while ago.”