A Collection of Ballads | Page 7

will be bare,

Cockt up shall my bonnet be,
And kaimd down shall my hair;
And
thae's the takens I gie thee,
Nae doubt I will be there.
"They'll turn me in your arms, lady,
Into an esk and adder;
But hold
me fast, and fear me not,
I am your bairn's father.
"They'll turn me to a bear sae grim,
And then a lion bold;
But hold
me fast, and fear me not,
As ye shall love your child.
"Again they'll turn me in your arms
To a red het gaud of airn;
But
hold me fast, and fear me not,
I'll do to you nae harm.
"And last they'll turn me in your arms
Into the burning gleed;
Then
throw me into well water,
O throw me in wi speed.

"And then I'll be your ain true-love,
I'll turn a naked knight;
Then
cover me wi your green mantle,
And cover me out o sight."
Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
And eerie was the way,
As fair
Jenny in her green mantle
To Miles Cross she did gae.
About the middle o' the night
She heard the bridles ring;
This lady
was as glad at that
As any earthly thing.
First she let the black pass by,
And syne she let the brown;
But
quickly she ran to the milk-white steed,
And pu'd the rider down,
Sae weel she minded whae he did say,
And young Tam Lin did win;

Syne coverd him wi her green mantle,
As blythe's a bird in spring.
Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
Out of a bush o broom:
"Them
that has gotten young Tam Lin
Has gotten a stately groom."
Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
And an angry woman was she;

"Shame betide her ill-far'd face,
And an ill death may she die,
For
she's taen awa the bonniest knight
In a' my companie.
"But had I kend, Tam Lin," she says,
"What now this night I see,
I
wad hae taen out thy twa grey e'en,
And put in twa een o tree."
Ballad: Thomas The Rhymer
(Child, Part II., p. 317.)
True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;
A ferlie he spied wi' his ee;
And
there he saw a lady bright,
Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.
Her skirt 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 pulld 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 sall 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 taen True Thomas up
behind,
And aye wheneer her bride 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 shew 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 ye not that braid braid road,
That lies across that 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 thou 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 Elflyn land,
Ye'll neer 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 an 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 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