1.
There was a knight, in a summer's night,
Was riding o'er the lee, _(diddle)_
An' there he saw a bonny birdy,
Was singing upon a tree. _(diddle)_
O wow for day! _(diddle)_
An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_
Gin it were day, an' gin I were away,
For I ha' na lang time to stay. _(diddle)_
2.
'Make hast, make hast, ye gentle knight,
What keeps you here so late?
Gin ye kent what was doing at hame,
I fear you woud look blate.'
3.
'O what needs I toil day an' night,
My fair body to kill,
Whan I hae knights at my comman',
An' ladys at my will?'
4.
'Ye lee, ye lee, ye gentle knight,
Sa loud's I hear you lee;
Your lady's a knight in her arms twa
That she lees far better nor thee.'
5.
'Ye lee, ye lee, you bonny birdy,
How you lee upo' my sweet!
I will tak' out my bonny bow,
An' in troth I will you sheet.'
6.
'But afore ye hae your bow well bent,
An' a' your arrows yare,
I will flee till another tree,
Whare I can better fare.'
7.
'O whare was you gotten, and whare was ye clecked?
My bonny birdy, tell me';
'O I was clecked in good green wood,
Intill a holly tree;
A gentleman my nest herryed
An' ga' me to his lady.
8.
'Wi' good white bread an' farrow-cow milk
He bade her feed me aft,
An' ga' her a little wee simmer-dale wanny,
To ding me sindle and saft.
9.
'Wi' good white bread an' farrow-cow milk
I wot she fed me nought,
But wi' a little wee simmer-dale wanny
She dang me sair an' aft:
Gin she had deen as ye her bade,
I wouldna tell how she has wrought.'
10.
The knight he rade, and the birdy flew,
The live-lang simmer's night,
Till he came till his lady's bow'r-door,
Then even down he did light:
The birdy sat on the crap of a tree,
An' I wot it sang fu' dight.
11.
'O wow for day! _(diddle)_
An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_
Gin it were day, and gin I were away,
For I ha' na lang time to stay.' _(diddle)_
12.
'What needs ye lang for day, _(diddle)_
An' wish that you were away? _(diddle)_
Is no your hounds i' my cellar.
Eating white meal and gray?' _(diddle)_
'O wow for day,' _etc._
13.
'Is nae you[r] steed in my stable,
Eating good corn an' hay?
An' is nae your hawk i' my perch-tree,
Just perching for his prey?
An' is nae yoursel i' my arms twa?
Then how can ye lang for day?'
14.
'O wow for day! _(diddle)_
An' dear gin it were day! _(diddle)_
For he that's in bed wi' anither man's wife
Has never lang time to stay.' _(diddle)_
15.
Then out the knight has drawn his sword,
An' straiked it o'er a strae,
An' thro' and thro' the fa'se knight's waste
He gard cauld iron gae:
An' I hope ilk ane sal sae be serv'd
That treats ane honest man sae.
[Annotations:
2.4: 'blate,' astonished, abashed.
7.1: 'clecked,' hatched.
8.1: 'A Farrow Cow is a Cow that gives Milk in the second year after
her Calving, having no Calf that year.'--Holme's _Armoury_, 1688.
8.3: 'wanny,' wand, rod: 'simmer-dale,' apparently = summer-dale.
8.4: 'sindle,' seldom.
10.5: 'crap,' top.
10.6: 'dight,' freely, readily.
15.1-4: Cp. _Clerk Sanders_, 15.]
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