Four and twanty siller bells

Wer a' tied till his mane,

And yae tift' o' the norland wind,
They tinkled ane by ane.

Four and twanty gay gude knichts
Rade by fair Annet's side,
And four and twanty fair ladies,
As gin she had been a bride.

And when she cam to Marie's kirk,
She sat on Marie's stean : 2
The cleading that fair Annet had on
It skinkled in their een.

And when she cam into the kirk,
She shimmer'd like the sun;
The belt that was about her waist,
Was a' wi' pearles bedone.

She sat her by the nut-brown bride,
And her een they wer sae clear,
Lord Thomas he clean forgat the bride,
When fair Annet she drew near.

1 ["Yae tift," each puff.]

3 [Clothing.]

2

[Stone.]

• [Glittered.]

He had a rose into his hand,

And he gave it kisses three,

And reaching by the nut-brown bride,
Laid it on fair Annet's knee.

The bride she drew a long bodkin
Frae out her gay head-gear,

And strake fair Annet unto the heart,
That word she never spake mair.

Lord Thomas he saw fair Annet wax pale, And marvelit what mote be:

But when he saw her dear heart's blude, A' wood-wroth' waxed hee.

He drew his dagger, that was sae sharp,
That was sae sharp and meet,
And drave it into the nut-brown bride,
That fell dead at his feet.

"Now stay for me, dear Annet," he said, "Now stay, my dear," he cried; Then strake the dagger untill his heart, And fell dead by her side.

1 ["A' wood-wroth," all wood wroth, all crazy-wroth. ]

Lord Thomas was buried without kirk-wa',

Fair Annet within the choir;
And o' the tane1 thair grew a birk,

The other a bonny brier.

And ay they grew, and

ay they threw,2

As they wad fain be near;

And by this ye may ken right weil,
They were twa luvers dear.

LORD THOMAS AND FAIR ANNET seems to be composed (not without improvements) out of two ancient English ones, printed in this volume. If this had been the original, the authors of those two ballads would hardly have adopted two such different stories: besides, this contains enlargements not to be found in either of the others. It is given, with some corrections, from a MS. copy transmitted from Scotland.

1 [The one, as opposed to the other: "the tone and the tother" are frequent ballad-forms.]

2 [Throve.]

THE LEGEND OF SIR GUY.

AS ever knight for lady's sake

So tossed in love, as I, Sir Guy, For Phyllis fair, that lady bright

As ever man beheld with eye?

She gave me leave myself to try,

The valiant knight with shield and spear, Ere that her love she would grant me; Which made me venture far and near.

Then proved I a baron bold,

In deeds of arms the doughtiest knight That in those days in England was,

With sword and spear in field to fight.

An English man I was by birth:

In faith of Christ a Christian true :

The wicked laws of infidels

I sought by prowesse to subdue.

'Nine' hundred twenty year and odd

After our Saviour Christ his birth. When King Athelstane wore the crown, I lived here upon the earth.

Sometime I was of Warwick earl,
And, as I said, of very truth
A lady's love did me constrain

To seek strange ventures in my youth;

To win me fame by feats of arms

In strange and sundry heathen lands; Where I achieved for her sake

Right dangerous conquests with my

For first I sailed to Normandy,

And there I stoutly wan1 in fight The emperour's daughter of Almaine, From many a valiant worthy knight.

Then passed I the seas to Greece,
To help the emperor in his right,
Against the mighty soldan's host
Of puissant Persians for to fight.

1 [Won.]

hands.