6_The English and Scottish popular ballads, volume 1 (of 5)

She took out a handkerchief

Was made o' the cambrick fine,

And aye she wiped her father's bloody wounds,

And the blood sprung up like wine.

'Will ye go, fair Margaret?' he said,

'Will ye now go, or bide?'

'Yes, I'll go, sweet William,' she said,

'For ye've left me never a guide.

'If I were to go to my mother's house,

A welcome guest I would be;

But for the bloody deed that's done this day

I'll rather go with thee.'

He lifted her on a milk-white steed

And himself on a dapple gray;

They drew their hats out over their face,

And they both went weeping away.

They rode, they rode, and they better rode,

Till they came to yon water wan;

They lighted down to gie their horse a drink

Out of the running stream.

'I am afraid, Earl Douglas.' she said,

'I am afraid ye are slain;

I think I see your bonny heart's blood

Running down the water wan.'

'Oh no, oh no, fair Margaret,' he said,

'Oh no, I am not slain;

It is but the scad of my scarlet cloak

Runs down the water wan.'

He mounted her on a milk-white steed

And himself on a dapple gray,

And they have reached Earl Douglas' gates

Before the break of day.

'O rise, dear mother, and make my bed,

And make it braid and wide,

And lay me down to take my rest,

And at my back my bride.'

She has risen and made his bed,

She made it braid and wide;

She laid him down to take his rest,

And at his back his bride.

Lord William died ere it was day,

Lady Margaret on the morrow;

Lord William died through loss of blood and wounds,

Fair Margaret died with sorrow.

The one was buried in Mary's kirk,

The other in Mary's quire;

The one sprung up a bonnie bush,

And the other a bonny brier.

These twa grew, and these twa threw,

Till they came to the top,

And when they could na farther gae,

They coost the lovers' knot.

Kinloch MSS, I, 327.

'Sleepst thou or wakst thou, Lord Montgomerie,

Sleepst thou or wakst thou, I say?

Rise up, make a match for your eldest daughter,

For the youngest I carry away.'

'Rise up, rise up, my seven bold sons,

Dress yourselves in the armour sae fine;

For it ne'er shall be said that a churlish knight

Eer married a daughter of mine.'

* * * * * * *

'Loup aff, loup aff, Lady Margaret,' he said,

'And hold my steed in your hand,

And I will go fight your seven brethren,

And your father, where they stand.'

Sometimes she gaed, sometimes she stood,

But never dropt a tear,

Until she saw her brethren all slain

And her father who lovd her so dear.

'Hold thy hand, sweet William,' she says,

'Thy blows are wondrous sore;

Sweethearts I may have many a one,

But a father I'll never have more.'

O she's taken her napkin frae her pocket,

Was made o the holland fine,

And ay as she dichted her father's bloody wounds,

They sprang as red as the wine.

'Two chooses, two chooses, Lady Margret,' he says,

'Two chooses I'll make thee;

Whether to go back to your mother again,

Or go along with me.'

'For to go home to my mother again,

An unwelcome guest I'd be;

But since my fate has ordered it so,

I'll go along with thee.'

He has mounted her on a milk-white steed,

Himself on the dapple gray,

And blawn his horn baith loud and shill,

And it sounded far on their way.

They rode oer hill, they rode oer dale,

They rode oer mountains so high,

Until they came to that beautiful place

Where Sir William's mother did lie.

'Rise up, rise up, lady mother,' he said,

'Rise up, and make much o your own;

Rise up, rise up, lady mother,' he said,

'For his bride's just new come home.'

Sir William he died in the middle o the night,

Lady Margaret died on the morrow;

Sir William he died of pure pure love,

Lady Margaret of grief and sorrow.

Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 180. From recitation.

He has lookit over his left shoulder,

And through his bonnie bridle rein,

And he spy'd her father and her seven bold brethren,

Come riding down the glen.

'O hold my horse, Lady Margret,' he said,

'O hold my horse by the bonnie bridle rein,

Till I fight your father and seven bold brethren,

As they come riding down the glen.'

Some time she rade, and some time she gaed,

Till she that place did near,

And there she spy'd her seven bold brethren slain,

And her father who loved her so dear.

'O hold your hand, sweet William,' she said,

'Your bull baits are wondrous sair;

Sweet-hearts I may get many a one,

But a father I will never get mair.'

She has taken a napkin from off her neck,

That was of the cambrick so fine,

And aye as she wiped her father's bloody wounds,

The blood ran red as the wine.

* * * * * * *

He set her upon the milk-white steed,

Himself upon the brown;

He took a horn out of his pocket,

And they both went weeping along.

Percy MS., p. 57; ed. Hales and Furnivall, I, 133.

. . . . . . .

Sayes 'Christ thee saue, good Child of Ell!

Christ saue thee and thy steede!

'My father sayes he will [eat] noe meate,

Nor his drinke shall doe him noe good,

Till he haue slaine the Child of Ell,

And haue seene his harts blood.'

'I wold I were in my sadle sett,

And a mile out of the towne;

I did not care for yo_u_r father

And all his merry men!

'I wold I were in my sadle sett,

And a little space him froe;

I did not care for yo_u_r father

And all that long him to!'

He leaned ore his saddle bow

To kisse this lady good;

The teares _that_ went them _two_ betweene

Were blend water and blood.

He sett himselfe on one good steed,

This lady on a palfray,

And sett his litle horne to his mouth,

And roundlie he rode away.

He had not ridden past a mile,

A mile out of the towne,

. . . . . . .

Her father was readye with her _seuen_ brether,

He said, 'Sett thou my daughter downe!

For it ill beseemes thee, thou false churles sonne,

To carry her forth of this towne!'

'But lowd thou lyest, S_i_r Iohn the k_nigh_t,

Thou now doest lye of me;

A knight me gott, and a lady me bore;

Soe neuer did none by thee.

'But light now downe, my lady gay,

Light downe and hold my horsse,

Whilest I and yo_u_r father and yo_u_r brether

Doe play vs at this crosse.

'But light now downe, my owne trew loue,

And meeklye hold my steede,

Whilest yo_u_r father [and your _seuen_ brether] bold

* * * * * * *

* * * * *

#A. a, b.#

_Obtained from recitation "many years ago" wrote Mr White

in 1873, by James Telfer, of Laughtree Liddesdale, in some

part of the neighboring country: the copy has the date

1818. #c# is said by the editor to have been taken down

from the recitation of an old fiddler in Northumberland,

but when and by whom he does not tell us. The three are

clearly more or less "corrected" copies of the same

original, #c# having suffered most from arbitrary changes.

Alterations for rhyme's sake, or for propriety's, that are

written above the lines or in the margin of #a# 2, 5, 8,

19, are adopted in #c# without advertisement._

_Burden._ #b.# I the brave night sae early:

#c.# I the brave nights so early:

#d.# I (_or_ O) the life o the one, the randy.

1^1. #c.# Brand, _and always in_ #c#.

1^2. #a.# daughters.

#b.# He's courted.

2^1. #c.# years that tide; that tide _is written over_ of

age _in_ #a#.

2^2. #c.# When sae.

4^2. #c.# But thou.

5^2. #b.# best o these.

#c.# best of tho. of tho _is written over_ o them a

_in_ #a#.

6^2. #b, c.# have met.

7^1. #c.# Till at last they met.

7^2. #c.# He's aye for ill and never.

8^1. #b.# O Earl Bran.

#c.# Now Earl Brand. Now _in the margin of_ #a#.

8^2. #b, c.# Slay this.

9^2. #b.# man that wears.

#c.# carl that wears, carl ... wears _written over_ man

... has _in_ #a#.

10. #b.#

O lady fair, I'll no do that,

I'll pay him penny, let him be jobbing at.

#c.#

My own lady fair, I'll not do that,

I'll pay him his fee

11^2. #b.# where have stoln this fair.

#c.# And where have ye stown this fair.

13.

#b.#

She is my sick sister,

Which I newly brought from Winchester.

#c.#

For she is, I trow, my sick sister,

Whom I have been bringing fra Winchester.

14^1. #c.# nigh to dead.

14^2. #b, c.# What makes her wear.

15^1. #c.# If she's been.

15^2. #b, c.# What makes her wear the gold sae high.

16^1. #c.# When came the carl to the lady's yett.

16^2. #b.# rapped at.

#c.# He rudely, rudely rapped thereat.

17^2. #b.# maids playen.

#c.# a playing.

#d.# She's out with the fair maids playing at the ball.

18^1. #b.# mistkane (?):

18^2. #b, c.# Ye may count.

b^2. young Earl.

19. #c.#

I met her far beyond the lea

With the young Earl Brand, his leman to be:

_In ~a lea~ is written over ~moor~, and ~With the young~,

etc., stands as a "correction."_

20. #b.#

Her father, _etc._,

And they have riden after them.

#c.#

Her father of his best men armed fifteen,

And they're ridden after them bidene.

21^1. #b, c.# The lady looket [looked] over [owre] her

left shoulder then.

22^1. #b, c.# If they come on me one by one,

22^2. #b.# Ye may stand by and see them fall.

#c.# You may stand by till the fights be done.

#d.# Then I will slay them every one.

23^1. #b.# all in all.

#d.# all and all.

23^2. #d.# Then you will see me the sooner fall.

24^2. #b.# has slain.

24. #c.#

They came upon him one by one,

Till fourteen battles he has won.

And fourteen men he has them slain,

Each after each upon the plain.

25. #c.#

But the fifteenth man behind stole round,

And dealt him a deep and a deadly wound.

26. #c.#

Though he was wounded to the deid,

He set his lady on her steed.

27^1. #c.# river Donne:

27^2. #b.# And he lighted down.

#c.# And there they lighted to wash his wound.

28^2. #b.# It's but the glent.

#c.# It's nothing but the glent and my scarlet hood.

29^1. #c.# yett.

29^2. #b.# Sae ruddly as he rappet at.

#c.# So faint and feebly he rapped thereat.

30^1. #b.# O my son's slain and cut down.

#c.# O my son's slain, he is falling to swoon.

32. #b.#

... death of only one,

But it's been the death of fair seventeen.

_Instead of 32, #c# has_:

To a maiden true he'll give his hand,

To the king's daughter o fair England,

To a prize that was won by a slain brother's brand.

#B.#

3. _A stanza resembling this is found in Beaumont and

Fletcher's 'Knight of the Burning Pestle' (1611), Dyce,

II, 172, but may belong to some other ballad, as_ 'The

Knight and Shepherd's Daughter:'

He set her on a milk-white steed,

And himself upon a grey;

He never turned his face again,

But he bore her quite away.

8^4. ware.

18^1. Marie.

20^4. flang'd.

#C.#

12^3. _MS._ scâd.

#D.#

10. _The following stanza, superscribed "~Mrs Lindores,

Kelso~," was found among Mr Kinlock's papers, and was

inserted at I, 331, of the Kinlock MSS. It may be a first

recollection of #D# 10, but is more likely to be another

version_:

'We raid over hill and we raid over dale,

And we raid over mountains sae high,

Until we cam in sicht o yon bonnie castle bowr

Whare Sir William Arthur did lie.'

#E.#

5-6. _"Two stanzas are here omitted, in which Lord William

offers her the choice of returning to her mother, or of

accompanying him; and the ballad concludes with this [the

6th] stanza, which is twice repeated in singing."

Motherwell's preface._

#F.#

3^4. _MS._ merrymen.

6^2. of one palfray.

_7, 8 are written in one stanza. Half a page, or about

nine stanzas, is gone after st. 11._

[107] 'Erlinton,' though not existing in a two-line stanza, follows

immediately after 'Earl Brand.' The copy of 'The Douglas Tragedy' in

Smith's Scottish Minstrel, III, 86, is merely Scott's, with changes to

facilitate singing.

[108] #B*#, III, 853, a fragment of five stanzas, has been dropped by

Grundtvig from No 82, and assigned to No 249. See #D. g. F#. IV, 494.

[109] Though the paradise has not been transmitted in any known copy of

'Earl Brand,' it appears very distinctly in the opening stanza of

'Leesome Brand' #A#. This last has several stanzas towards the close

(33-35) which seem to belong to 'Earl Brand,' and perhaps derived these,

the "unco land," and even its name, by the familiar process of

intermixture of traditions.

[110] See No 5, pp. 64, 65, 66.

[111] Compare vv 49-56, "Wilt thou ride to them, or wilt thou fight with

them, or wilt thou stand by thy love, sword in hand?" "I will not ride

to them, I will not fight with them [i. e., begin the fight], but I will

stand by my love, sword in hand," with Norwegian #A#, 29, 30: "Shall we

ride to the wood, or shall we bide like men?" "We will not ride to the

wood, but we will bide like men." And also with Danish #Æ#, sts 14, 15.

[112] The chief branches, besides the Helgi lay and Walter, are the saga

in Snorri's Edda, Skáldskaparmal, § 50; that in Saxo Grammaticus,

Stephanius, ed. 1644, pp. 88-90; Sörla þáttr, in Fornaldar Sögur, I, 391

ff; the Shetland ballad printed in Low's Tour through the Islands of

Orkney and Shetland, 108 ff, and in Barry's History of the Orkney

Islands, 2d ed., 489 ff, and paraphrased in Hibbert's Description of the

Shetland Islands, 561 ff; the Thidrik saga, §§ 233-239, Unger; Gudrun,

v-viii. The names of father, daughter, and lover in these are: (1)

Hügni, ----, Högni, Högin-, Högni, ----, [Artus], Hagen; (2) [Sigrún],

Hilde-gunde, Hildr, Hilda, Hildr, Hildina, Hildr, Hilde; (3) Helgi,

[Walter], Hedin, Hithin-, Hedin, ----, [Herburt], Hetel. Hagan, in

'Waltharius,' may be said to take the place of the father, who is

wanting; and this is in a measure true also of Hedin, Helgi's

half-brother, in the lay of Helgi Hiörvard's son. See the excellent

discussion of the saga by Klee, Zur Hildesage, Leipzig, 1873.

The Swedish ballad, 'Herr Hjelmer,' #A#, Arwidsson, I, 155, No 21; #B#,

#C#, Afzelius, II, 178, 226, No 74 (Helmer); #D#, #E#. Wigström,

Folkdiktning, p. 25, No 10 (Hjelman), has several points of agreement

with Ribold and the Hilde saga. The hero kills six of seven brothers

[also the father, in #A#], spares the seventh on oath of fidelity, and

is treacherously slain by him. The youngest brother carries her lover's

head to his sister, is invited to drink by her (in three of the four

copies), and slain while so engaged; reminding us of Hildina in the

Shetland ballad. Danish 'Herr Hjælm,' Grundtvig, Danske Folkeminder,

1861, p. 81, agrees with the Swedish, except that there are only three

brothers.

[113] Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar, ed. Grundtvig, 42-44, Ribold og

Guldborg, #A# 33, 34, #B# 46, #D# 46, 47, #E# 42, #Q# 24. The

observation is Professor Bugge's.

[114] Höttr, er Óðinn var reyndar, Hood, who was Odin really, Fornaldar

Sögur, II, p. 25. Klee observes, p. 10 f, that Högni [Hagen] is the evil

genius of the Hildesage. Sometimes he is the heroine's father; in

'Waltharius,' strangely enough, the hero's old friend (and even there a

one-eyed man.) Klee treats the introduction of a rival lover (as in the

Shetland ballad and Gudrun) as a departure from the older story. But we

have the rival in Helgi Hundingslayer. The proper marplot in this lay is

Blind the Ill-witted (Odin), whose part is sustained in 'Earl Brand' by

the malicious Hood, in several Norwegian ballads by a very enigmatical

"false Pál greive," in two other Norwegian ballads and one Danish by an

old man, and, what is most remarkable, in the Shetland ballad by the

rejected lover of Hildina (the Sir Nilaus of Danish #D#, Hertug Nilssón

of some Norwegian copies), who bears the name Hiluge, interpreted with

great probability by Conrad Hofmann (Munich Sitzungsberichte, 1867, II,

209, note), Illhugi, der Bössinnige, evil-minded (Icelandic íllhugaðr,

ílluðigr.)

[115] Inimicitias Othinus serit, Saxo, p. 142, ed. 1644. See Grimm,

Deutsche Mythologie, I, 120, note 2, III, 56, new ed., for Odin's bad

points, though some of Grimm's interpretations might now be objected to.

[116] Et de la tombe de monseigneur Tristan yssoit une ronce belle et

verte et bien feuilleue, qui alloit par dessus la chapelle, et

descendoit le bout de la ronce sur la tombe de la royne Yseult, et

entroit dedans. La virent les gens du pays et la comptèrent au roy Marc.

Le roy la fist couper par troys foys, et quant il l'avoit le jour fait

couper, le lendemain estoit aussi belle comme avoit aultre fois esté.

Fol. cxxiv as cited by Braga, Rom. Ger., p. 185.

ERLINTON

#A.# 'Erlinton,' Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 235, ed. 1803.

#B.# 'True Tammas,' Mr R. White's papers.

#C.# 'Robin Hood and the Tanner's Daughter,' Gutch's Robin

Hood, II, 345.

'Erlinton' (#A#) first appeared in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish

Border, the text formed "from the collation of two copies obtained from

recitation." #B# is a manuscript copy, furnished by the late Mr Robert

White of Newcastle, and was probably taken down from recitation by Mr

James Telfer early in the century. #C#, in which Robin Hood has taken

the place of a hero who had at least _connections_ out of Great Britain,

was first printed in Gutch's Robin Hood, from a manuscript of Mr Payne

Collier, supposed to have been written about 1650.

This ballad has only with much hesitation been separated from the

foregoing. In this as in that, a man induces a maid to go off with him;

he is set upon by a party of fifteen in #A#, #B#, as in 7 #A#; and he

spares the life of one of his assailants [an old man, #A#, #B#, the

younger brother, #C#]. Some agreements as to details with Scandinavian

Ribold ballads have already been noticed, and it has been observed that

while there is no vestige of the dead-naming in 'Earl Brand,' there is

an obvious trace of it in 'Erlinton' #A#, #B#. 'Erlinton' #A#, #B# has

also one other correspondence not found in 'Earl Brand,'--the strict

watch kept over the lady (st. 2). Even the bigly bower, expressly built

to confine her in, is very likely a reminiscence or a displacement of

the tower in which Hilde is shut up, _after_ her elopement, in some of

the Scandinavian ballads (Danish 83 #A#, #B#; Swedish #A#, dark house).

But notwithstanding these resemblances to the Ribold story, there is a

difference in the larger part of the details, and all the 'Erlinton'

ballads have a fortunate conclusion, which also does not seem forced, as

it does in Arwidsson, 107, the only instance, perhaps, in which a

fortunate conclusion in a Ribold ballad is of the least account; for

Grundtvig's #F#, #G# are manifestly copies that have been tampered with,

and Landstad 34 is greatly confused at the close. It may be an absolute

accident, but 'Erlinton' #A#, #B# has at least one point of contact with

the story of Walter of Aquitania which is not found in 'Earl Brand.'

This story requires to be given in brief on account of its kinship to

both.

Walter, with his betrothed Hildegunde, fly from the court of Attila, at

which they have both lived as hostages since their childhood, taking

with them two boxes of jewels. Gunther, king of Worms, learns that a

knight and lady, with a richly-laden horse, have passed the Rhine, and

sets out in pursuit, with twelve of his best fighting men, resolved to

capture the treasure. The fugitives, after a very long ride, make a halt

in a forest, and Walter goes to sleep with his head on Hildegunde's

knees. The lady meanwhile keeps watch, and rouses her lover when she

perceives by the dust they raise that horsemen are approaching. Gunther

sends one of his knights with a message demanding the surrender of the

treasure. Walter scornfully refuses, but expresses a willingness to make

the king a present of a hundred bracelets, or rings, of red gold, in

token of his respect. The messenger is sent back with directions to take

the treasure by force, if it should be refused again. Walter, having

vainly offered a present of two hundred bracelets to avoid a conflict,

is attacked by the knight, whom he slays. Ten others go the way of this

first, and only the king and one of his troop, Hagen, a very

distinguished knight and an old comrade of Walter, remain. These now

attack Walter; the combat is long and fierce; all three are seriously

wounded, and finally so exhausted as to be forced to cease fighting.

Walter and Hagen enter into a friendly talk while refreshing themselves

with wine, and in the end Gunther[117] is put on a horse and conducted

home by Hagen, while Walter and Hildegunde continue their journey to

Aquitania. There they were married and ruled thirty happy years.

('Waltharius,' ed. R. Peiper, 1873.)

The particular resemblances of 'Erlinton' #A#, #B# to 'Walter' are that

the assailants are "bold knights," or "bravest outlaws," _not_ the

lady's kinsmen; that there are two parleys before the fight; and that

the hero survives the fight and goes off with his love. The utmost that

could be insisted on is that some features of the story of Walter have

been blended in the course of tradition with the kindred story of

Ribold. 'Erlinton' #C# is much less like 'Walter,' and more like

'Ribold.'

The 'Sultan's Fair Daughter,' translated by Aigner, Ungarische

Volksdichtungen, p. 93, 2d ed., has perhaps derived something from the

Walter story. Two Magyars escape from the Sultan's prison by the aid of

his daughter, under promise of taking her to Hungary. She often looks

backwards, fearing pursuit. At last a large band overtake them. One of

the Magyars guards the lady; the other assaults the Turks, of whom he

leaves only one alive, to carry back information. One of the two has a

love at home; the other takes the Sultan's daughter.

* * * * *

'Erlinton' is translated by Rosa Warrens, Schottische Volkslieder, No

24, and by Karl Knortz, Schottische Balladen, No 12.

Scott's Minstrelsy, III, 235, ed. 1803; ed. 1833, II, 353.

Made up from two copies obtained from recitation.

Erlinton had a fair daughter;

I wat he weird her in a great sin;

For he has built a bigly bower,

An a' to put that lady in.

An he has warnd her sisters six,

An sae has he her brethren se'en,

Outher to watch her a' the night,

Or else to seek her morn an een.

She hadna been i that bigly bower

Na not a night but barely ane,

Till there was Willie, her ain true love,

Chappd at the door, cryin 'Peace within!'

'O whae is this at my bower door,

That chaps sae late, nor kens the gin?'

'O it is Willie, your ain true love,

I pray you rise an let me in!'

'But in my bower there is a wake,

An at the wake there is a wane;

But I'll come to the green-wood the morn,

Whar blooms the brier, by mornin dawn.'

Then she's gane to her bed again,

Where she has layen till the cock crew thrice,

Then she said to her sisters a',

'Maidens, 't is time for us to rise.'

She pat on her back her silken gown,

An on her breast a siller pin,

An she's tane a sister in ilka hand,

An to the green-wood she is gane.

She hadna walkd in the green-wood

Na not a mile but barely ane,

Till there was Willie, her ain true love,

Whae frae her sisters has her taen.

He took her sisters by the hand,

He kissd them baith, an sent them hame,

An he's taen his true love him behind,

And through the green-wood they are gane.

They hadna ridden in the bonnie green-wood

Na not a mile but barely ane,

When there came fifteen o the boldest knights

That ever bare flesh, blood, or bane.

The foremost was an aged knight,

He wore the grey hair on his chin:

Says, 'Yield to me thy lady bright,

An thou shalt walk the woods within.'

'For me to yield my lady bright

To such an aged knight as thee,

People wad think I war gane mad,

Or a' the courage flown frae me.'

But up then spake the second knight,

I wat he spake right boustouslie:

'Yield me thy life, or thy lady bright,

Or here the tane of us shall die.'

'My lady is my warld's meed;

My life I winna yield to nane;

But if ye be men of your manhead,

Ye'll only fight me ane by ane.'

He lighted aff his milk-white steed,

An gae his lady him by the head,

Sayn, 'See ye dinna change your cheer,

Untill ye see my body bleed.'

He set his back unto an aik,

He set his feet against a stane,

An he has fought these fifteen men,

An killd them a' but barely ane.

. . . . . . .

For he has left that aged knight.

An a' to carry the tidings hame.

When he gaed to his lady fair,

I wat he kissd her tenderlie:

'Thou art mine ain love, I have thee bought;

Now we shall walk the green-wood free.'

MS. of Robert White, Esq., of Newcastle, from James

Telfer's collection.

There was a knight, an he had a daughter,

An he wad wed her, wi muckle sin;

Sae he has biggit a bonnie bower, love,

An a' to keep his fair daughter in.

But she hadna been in the bonnie bower, love,

And no twa hours but barely ane,

Till up started Tammas, her ain true lover,

And O sae fain as he wad been in.

'For a' sae weel as I like ye, Tammas,

An for a' sae weel as I like the gin,

I wadna for ten thousand pounds, love,

Na no this night wad I let thee in.

'But yonder is a bonnie greenwud,

An in the greenwud there is a wauk,

An I'll be there an sune the morn, love,

It's a' for my true love's sake.

'On my right hand I'll have a glove, love,

An on my left are I'll have nane;

I'll have wi' me my sisters six, love,

An we will wauk the wuds our lane.'

They hadna waukd in the bonnie greenwud,

Na no an hour but barely ane,

Till up start Tammas, her ain true lover,

He's taen her sisters her frae mang.