He took her to his lodging-house;

His landlady look'd ben;
Says, "Mony a pretty lady,

In Edinbruch I've seen;
But sic a lovely face as thine

In it I never saw;

Gae mak' her down a down-bed,
And lay her neist the wa'.

"I

"O haud away frae me," she says;
pray you let me be;
I winna gang into your bed,

Till ye dress me dishes three :
Dishes three ye maun dress me,
Gin I should eat them a',
Afore that I lie in your bed,
Either at stock or wa'.

"It's ye maun get to my supper
A cherry without a stane;
And ye maun get to my supper
A chicken without a bane;

And ye maun get to my supper

A bird without a ga';'

*

Or I winna lie in your bed,
Either at stock or wa'."

"It's when the cherry is in the blume,
I'm sure it has nae stane;

And when the chicken's in the egg,

I wat it has nae bane;

* Gall. It is a popular notion in Scotland that the dove sent from the ark by Noah flew until it burst its gall, and transmitted this physical peculiarity to its descendants.-AYTOUN.

And, sin' the flood o' Noah,
The doo she has nae ga';
Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed,

And ye'se lie neist the wa'."

"O haud your tongue, young man," she says, "Nor that gate me perplex;

For ye maun tell me questions yet,

And that is questions six : Questions six ye'll tell to me, And that is three times twa, Afore I lie in your bed,

Either at stock or wa'.

"What's greener than the greenest grass?
What's higher than the trees?
What's waur nor an ill woman's wish?
What's deeper than the seas?

What bird sings first? And whereupon
First doth the dew down fa'?
Ye sall tell afore I lay me down,
Between you and the wa'."

"Vergris* is greener than the grass;
Heaven's higher than the trees;
The deil's waur nor a woman's wish;
Hell's deeper than the seas;

The cock craws first; on cedar tap
The dew down first doth fa';

Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed,

And ye'se lie neist the wa'."

"O haud your tongue, young man,' "And gie your fleechin ower,

Unless ye find me ferlies,

And that is ferlies four;

* Verdigris.

" she says,

Ferlies four ye maun find me,

And that is twa and twa; Or I'll never lie in your bed, Either at stock or wa'.

46

It's ye maun get to me a plum,
That in December grew ;

And ye maun get a silk mantel,

That waft was ne'er ca'd through; A sparrow's horn; a priest unborn, This night to join us twa;

Or I'll no lie in your bed,

Either at stock or wa'."

"My father he has winter fruit,
That in December grew;
My mother has an Indian gown,
That waft was ne'er ca'd through;
A sparrow's horn is quickly found;
There's ane on every claw,
And twa upon the neb o' him ;
And ye shall get them a'.

"The priest, he's standing at the door,

Just ready to come in ;

Nae man can say that he was born,

Nae man, unless he sin;

A wild boar tore his mother's side,
He out o' it did fa';

Sae we'll baith lie in ae bed,

And ye'll lie neist the wa'."

Little kenn'd Girzie Sinclair,

That morning when she raise,

That this would be the hindermost
O' a' her maiden days.

But now there's no within the realm,
I think, a blyther twa;
And they baith lie in ae bed,
And she lies neist the wa'.

The Murder of king kenneth.

This ballad, which is evidently a production of the present century, is founded upon the account of Kenneth's reign as given by Hollinshed in his somewhat mythical Chronicle of Scotland.

The best authorities state that Kenneth succeeded Culen about A. D. 971, and that his career was honourable and brilliant until near its close, when it was darkened by the murder either of a cousin or a brother. Hollinshed says it was a cousin ; and St. Berchan calls Kenneth " Fingalach,' or the fratricide.

It is agreed by all our historians that Kenneth was killed by stratagem, somewhere near Fettercairn, about A. D. 994-5. Tradition points to Lady Finella as the contriver, and to the castle of Greencairn as the scene of his death. The figures upon the well-known sculptured stone which stands within the chapel of St. Palladius at Fordoun, are (as noticed in the ballad) popularly associated with the murder of the King.

It is interesting to remember that King Malcolm, Kenneth's father, was killed at no great distance from Fordoun, viz., at Fetteresso, where his burial place is pointed out near the Railway Station of Stonehaven.

ONE fine summer's eve, whilst wand'ring alone,
I came to a sweet bubbling well,

Where sat an old man, in a deep pensive mood,
'Neath the wide spreading trees of a dell.

I softly stept forward, and greeted the sage,
Who gave me a kind look and smile--
"What a nice lonely spot thou hast chosen to rest,
And the long summer eve to beguile."

"'Tis a sweet spot, indeed!" he frankly replied,

"And hath beauties that's known but to few; Of this well and dell, and the hills that's around, We have many a legend, I trew.

"But pray thee," he said, "taste the water: thou'lt find, It is wond'rously pleasing and cool."

I knelt by the side of the worthy old man,

And drank from the time-honour'd pool.

"But, stay, stay, my friend!" he cried in much haste, "Of its virtues, I fear, thou can'st tell :

For unless thou believ'st in our great Mother Church
No charm hath this little well."

"The water's as sweet to my taste, worthy sire, As tho' I to thy Church did'st belong."

"Aye !—but never a blessing thou ask'd from Above, So to God, and our Saint, thou'st done wrong."

"And what is the name of thy Saint?" I enquired, "For a stranger I am to this place."

He cross'd his old breast, and with rev'rence replied, "PALLADIUS-whose Soul is in Peace!

"Oh, tell me, I pray, what Palladius did here,
For he flourish'd in ages bygone;"

In silence again he sought aid from Above,
Then spake in a grave hollow tone-

"Palladius," he said, "came here from afar-
From the Great Holy City of Rome;
And crush'd on his way the Pelagians' creed,
And near to this well was his home.

"'Twas here he proclaimed the glad tidings of Life,
And first gave us Bishops, they say;

But after a long and a holy career,

He sank to his cold bed of clay.