A Collection of Ballads | Page 9

Paradise
That birk grew fair eneugh.

"Blow up the fire, my maidens!
Bring water from the well;
For a'
my house shall feast this night,
Since my three sons are well."
And she has made to them a bed,
She's made it large and wide;
And
she's taen her mantle her about,
Sat down at the bedside.

Up then crew the red, red cock,
And up and crew the gray;
The
eldest to the youngest said,
"'Tis time we were away."
The cock he hadna crawd but once,
And clapp'd his wings at a',

Whan the youngest to the eldest said,
"Brother, we must awa.
"The cock doth craw, the day doth daw,
The channerin worm doth
chide;
Gin we be mist out o our place,
A sair pain we maun bide.
"Fare ye weel, my mother dear!
Fareweel to barn and byre!
And
fare ye weel, the bonny lass
That kindles my mother's fire!"
Ballad: The Twa Corbies
(Child, vol. i.)
As I was walking all alane,
I heard twa corbies making a mane;
The
tane unto the t'other say,
"Where sall we gang and dine the day?"
"In behint yon auld fail dyke,
I wot there lies a new-slain knight;

And naebody kens that he lies there
But his hawk, his hound, and his
lady fair.
"His hound is to the hunting gane,
His hawk to fetch the wild-fowl
hame,
His lady's ta'en another mate,
So we may make our dinner

sweet.
"Ye'll sit on his white hause-bane,
And I'll pike out his bonny blue
een;
Wi ae lock o his gowden hair
We'll theek our nest when it
grows bare.
"Mony a one for him makes mane,
But nane sall ken whae he is gane,

Oer his white banes, when they are bare,
The wind sall blaw for
evermair."
Ballad: The Bonnie Earl Moray
(Child, vol. vi.)
A.
Ye Highlands, and ye Lawlands
Oh where have you been?
They
have slain the Earl of Murray,
And they layd him on the green.
"Now wae be to thee, Huntly!
And wherefore did you sae?
I bade
you bring him wi you,
But forbade you him to slay."
He was a braw gallant,
And he rid at the ring;
And the bonny Earl
of Murray,
Oh he might have been a King!
He was a braw gallant,
And he playd at the ba;
And the bonny Earl
of Murray,
Was the flower amang them a'.
He was a braw gallant,
And he playd at the glove;
And the bonny
Earl of Murray,
Oh he was the Queen's love!
Oh lang will his lady
Look oer the castle Down,
Eer she see the
Earl of Murray
Come sounding thro the town!
Eer she, etc.
B.
"Open the gates
and let him come in;
He is my brother Huntly,


he'll do him nae harm."
The gates they were opent,
they let him come in,
But fause traitor
Huntly,
he did him great harm.
He's ben and ben,
and ben to his bed,
And with a sharp rapier
he
stabbed him dead.
The lady came down the stair,
wringing her hands:
"He has slain
the Earl o Murray,
the flower o Scotland."
But Huntly lap on his horse,
rade to the King:
"Ye're welcome
hame, Huntly,
and whare hae ye been?
"Where hae ye been?
and how hae ye sped?"
"I've killed the Earl o
Murray
dead in his bed."
"Foul fa you, Huntly!
and why did ye so?
You might have taen the
Earl o Murray,
and saved his life too."
"Her bread it's to bake,
her yill is to brew;
My sister's a widow,

and sair do I rue.
"Her corn grows ripe,
her meadows grow green,
But in bonnie
Dinnibristle
I darena be seen."
Ballad: Clerk Saunders
(Child, vol. iii.)
Clerk Saunders and may Margaret
Walked ower yon garden green;

And sad and heavy was the love
That fell thir twa between.
"A bed, a bed," Clerk Saunders said,
"A bed for you and me!"
"Fye
na, fye na," said may Margaret,
"'Till anes we married be.

"For in may come my seven bauld brothers,
Wi' torches burning
bright;
They'll say,--'We hae but ae sister,
And behold she's wi a
knight!'"
"Then take the sword frae my scabbard,
And slowly lift the pin;

And you may swear, and save your aith.
Ye never let Clerk Saunders
in.
"And take a napkin in your hand,
And tie up baith your bonny e'en,

And you may swear, and save your aith,
Ye saw me na since late
yestreen."
It was about the midnight hour,
When they asleep were laid,
When
in and came her seven brothers,
Wi' torches burning red.
When in and came her seven brothers,
Wi' torches burning bright:

They said, "We hae but ae sister,
And behold her lying with a
knight!"
Then out and spake the first o' them,
"I bear the sword shall gar him
die!"
And out and spake the second o' them,
"His father has nae
mair than he!"
And out and spake the third o' them,
"I wot that they are lovers dear!"

And out and spake the fourth o' them,
"They hae been in love this
mony a year!"
Then out and spake the fifth o' them,
"It were great sin true love to
twain!"
And out and spake the sixth o' them,
"It were shame to slay
a sleeping man!"
Then up and gat the seventh o' them,
And never a word